Visual and auditory attention in individuals with DYRK1A and SCN2A disruptive variants

Caitlin M Hudac; Kelsey Dommer; Monique Mahony; Trent D DesChamps; Brianna Cairney; Rachel Earl; Evangeline C Kurtz-Nelson; Jessica Bradshaw; Raphael A Bernier; Evan E Eichler; Emily Neuhaus; Sara Jane Webb; Frederick Shic

doi:10.1002/aur.3202

Visual and auditory attention in individuals with DYRK1A and SCN2A disruptive variants

Autism Res. 2024 Jul 30. doi: 10.1002/aur.3202. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Caitlin M Hudac^{1

2

3}, Kelsey Dommer⁴, Monique Mahony⁴, Trent D DesChamps⁵, Brianna Cairney⁵, Rachel Earl⁵, Evangeline C Kurtz-Nelson⁶, Jessica Bradshaw^{1

2

3}, Raphael A Bernier⁵, Evan E Eichler^{7

8}, Emily Neuhaus⁵, Sara Jane Webb^{4

5}, Frederick Shic^{4

9}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
² Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment (CAN) Research Center, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
³ Institute for Mind and Brain, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
⁴ Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, Washington, USA.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
⁶ Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
⁷ Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
⁸ Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
⁹ Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.

PMID: 39080977
DOI: 10.1002/aur.3202

Abstract

This preliminary study sought to assess biomarkers of attention using electroencephalography (EEG) and eye tracking in two ultra-rare monogenic populations associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Relative to idiopathic ASD (n = 12) and neurotypical comparison (n = 49) groups, divergent attention profiles were observed for the monogenic groups, such that individuals with DYRK1A (n = 9) exhibited diminished auditory attention condition differences during an oddball EEG paradigm whereas individuals with SCN2A (n = 5) exhibited diminished visual attention condition differences noted by eye gaze tracking when viewing social interactions. Findings provide initial support for alignment of auditory and visual attention markers in idiopathic ASD and neurotypical development but not monogenic groups. These results support ongoing efforts to develop translational ASD biomarkers within the attention domain.

Keywords: DYRK1A; SCN2A; attention; autism spectrum disorder (ASD); conversational flow; electroencephalography (EEG); eye tracking; genetic etiology; social attention.

Abstract

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