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. 2023 Jul 30;13(8):1147.
doi: 10.3390/brainsci13081147.

The Relationship between Retained Primitive Reflexes and Hemispheric Connectivity in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Robert Melillo  1 , Gerry Leisman  1   2 , Calixto Machado  3 , Yanin Machado-Ferrer  3 , Mauricio Chinchilla-Acosta  3 , Ty Melillo  4 , Eli Carmeli  1
Affiliations

The Relationship between Retained Primitive Reflexes and Hemispheric Connectivity in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Robert Melillo et al. Brain Sci. .

Abstract

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can be identified by a general tendency toward a reduction in the expression of low-band, widely dispersed integrative activities, which is made up for by an increase in localized, high-frequency, regionally dispersed activity. The study assessed ASD children and adults all possessing retained primitive reflexes (RPRs) compared with a control group that did not attempt to reduce or remove those RPRs and then examined the effects on qEEG and brain network connectivity.

Methods: Analysis of qEEG spectral and functional connectivity was performed, to identify associations with the presence or absence of retained primitive reflexes (RPRs), before and after an intervention based on TENS unilateral stimulation.

Results: The results point to abnormal lateralization in ASD, including long-range underconnectivity, a greater left-over-right qEEG functional connectivity ratio, and short-range overconnectivity in ASD.

Conclusions: Clinical improvement and the absence of RPRs may be linked to variations in qEEG frequency bands and more optimized brain networks, resulting in more developmentally appropriate long-range connectivity links, primarily in the right hemisphere.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorders; bottom-up processing; maturational delay; neuronal synchrony; retained primitive reflexes; top-down processing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Before treatment, a significant global increment of delta absolute power was found, lateralized to the right hemisphere, and focalized in the frontal-temporal regions. After treatment, a significant reduction in the delta absolute power was found.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Before treatment, a significant global increment of the theta absolute power was found. After treatment, a significant reduction in the theta absolute power was found.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Before treatment, a significant posterior decrement of the alpha absolute power was found. alpha absolute power significantly increases after treatment.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Before treatment, a significant global decrement in the gamma absolute power was found. Gamma absolute power significantly increases after treatment, mainly in the anterior regions.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Comparison of functional connectivity before and after treatment for the delta band. Red lines indicate a significant connection in the network.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Comparison of functional connectivity before and after treatment for the theta band. Red lines indicate a significant connection in the network.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Comparison of functional connectivity before and after treatment for the alpha band. Red lines indicate a significant connection in the network.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Comparison of functional connectivity before and after treatment for the beta band. Red lines indicate a significant connection in the network.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Comparison of functional connectivity before and after treatment, for the gamma band. Red lines indicate a significant connection in the network.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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