Abstract
This study investigated motor preparation and action-consequence prediction using the lateralized readiness potential (LRP). Motor impairments are common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which commonly co-occur. Alterations in predictive processes may impact motor planning. Whether motor planning deficits are characteristic of ASD broadly or magnified in the context of co-morbid ADHD is unclear. ASD children with (ASD + ADHD; n = 12) and without (ASD − ADHD; n = 9) comorbid ADHD and typical controls (n = 29) performed voluntary motor actions that either did or did not result in auditory consequences. ASD − ADHD children demonstrated LRP enhancement when their action produced an effect while ASD + ADHD children had attenuated responses regardless of action-effect pairings. Findings suggest influence of ADHD comorbidity on motor preparation and prediction in ASD.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the clinical faculty and trainees at the Seaver Autism Center for their help with participant diagnostic characterization and the student research assistants who helped with data collection, entry, and cleaning. The authors would also like to thank the participants and their families who devoted their time and effort to make this project possible.
Funding
This research was supported in part by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences TL1TR001434 (SBG), the National Institute of Mental Health Grant R21MH115297 (JHF, KNT), the Seaver Foundation (JHF), and New York University’s Dean’s Undergraduate Research Fund (MM).
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M.M., S.B.G., J.H.F., F.X.C., and K.N.T. conceptualized this study and S.B.G., E.L.I., and J.H.F. designed the experiment. E.L.I., C.S.M., H.E.G., and M.M. collected and processed the data, and M.M. and S.B.G. conducted data analyses. M.M. and S.B.G. drafted the manuscript with support and revisions from J.H.F., K.N.T., and F.X.C. All authors contributed to and have approved the final manuscript.
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Migó, M., Guillory, S.B., McLaughlin, C.S. et al. Investigating Motor Preparation in Autism Spectrum Disorder With and Without Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 52, 2379–2387 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05130-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05130-5