Fundamental behavioral and neurophysiologic relationships between sensory processing, intolerance of uncertainty, and autistic traits in children: A hybrid approach

Sensory differences are common and often challenging for autistic children. Furthermore, atypical sensory processing is associated with autistic traits and other autism-related behaviors, such as intolerance of uncertainty (IU). Such traits and their relatedness vary continuously across autistic and non-autistic children alike. However, the underlying neural correlates of these continuous variables, and their associations, are not well understood. Therefore, this study examined relationships between sensory processing, IU, autistic traits, and associated resting state brain connectivity, across a sample of both autistic (n = 30) and non-autistic (n = 26) children. In addition to computing behavioral correlations between these factors, we carried out independent component network functional connectivity analysis to investigate associations between cortical and cerebellar networks and behavioral results between groups and across our entire sample. Across-group correlations between sensory processing, autistic traits, and IU were significant. In addition, data demonstrated overlapping sensory processing and intolerance of uncertainty scores, spanning the groups. Brain (rs-fMRI)-behavioral relationships revealed strong associations between sensory, large-scale resting state, and cerebellar networks and behavioral scores. Overall, our findings suggest that sensory differences are related to IU and autistic traits across the population. Neurophysiologic data pointed to functional connectivity between sensory cortices and supramodal brain networks. These findings provide evidence for the continuous variation of behaviors common to autism throughout the entire population and their neurobiological correlates.