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A wearable device-enabled therapeutic approach to improve joint attention in autism spectrum disorder: a prospective pilot study

  • Psychiatry and Preclinical Psychiatric Studies - Short communication
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Abstract

It has been previously proposed that interventions aimed at integrating and co-activating music processing and motor control systems could have therapeutic potential for priming social skill development in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study, we assessed this hypothesis through a wearable sensor platform called Ambulosono (“Ambulo”–walk; “sono”–sound) in which pleasurable children’s musical stimuli are contingently linked to effortful motor action (locomotor step size), thus creating a motivational state proposed to be conducive to joint attention (JA) operation. Five participants were recruited from a community-based partner and were assessed by scoring responses following therapist-directed bids for JA. Multiple assessment sessions through a repeated time-series design were conducted to determine baseline and post-intervention scores. The intervention session consisted of approximately 15 min of Ambulosono exposure. Baseline and post-intervention data were aggregated and analyzed using a linear mixed-effect model. The wearable sensor and wireless headphones of the Ambulosono system were tolerated by the participants, and there were no adverse effects associated with the use of the device. We found an increase in the average responses to bids for JA during the Ambulosono intervention phase compared to baseline across participants. This increase did not appear to result from enhanced general arousal. Our pilot data support feasibility and further testing of Ambulosono as a therapeutic aid for integration into community-based ASD programs to augment shared child-therapist social interactions.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI) Behaviour & The Developing Brain Pilot Research Program, awarded to T.C. T.C. is also funded by the Hotchkiss Brain Institute/Department of Clinical Neurosciences/Tourmaline Oil Chair in Parkinson’s Disease Pilot Research Fund Program. GPT-4 aided in editing the revised version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Translational Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Dr, Calgary, AB, T2N 4N1, Canada

    Isabelle Tahmazian, Alexander Watts, Oswald Chen, Hannah J. Ferrara, Bin Hu & Taylor Chomiak

  2. Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada

    Adam McCrimmon

  3. Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada

    Adam McCrimmon, Bin Hu & Taylor Chomiak

Authors
  1. Isabelle Tahmazian
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  2. Alexander Watts
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  3. Oswald Chen
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  4. Hannah J. Ferrara
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  5. Adam McCrimmon
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  6. Bin Hu
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  7. Taylor Chomiak
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Bin Hu or Taylor Chomiak.

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Conflict of interest

B.H. invented the Ambulosono data system and GaitReminder App which is under investigational use. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Tahmazian, I., Watts, A., Chen, O. et al. A wearable device-enabled therapeutic approach to improve joint attention in autism spectrum disorder: a prospective pilot study. J Neural Transm 130, 1601–1607 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-023-02683-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-023-02683-w

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