Disrupted Top-Down Modulation as a Mechanism of Impaired Multisensory Processing in Autistic Children.

Overview

1. The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Departments of Pediatrics & Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City, New York, USA
2. The Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, The Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, USA
3. Seaver Autism Center, Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, New York, USA

Abstract

Atypical sensory processing is commonly observed in autism, particularly when integration across sensory modalities is required. The neural mechanisms underlying multisensory differences remain unclear. We recorded EEG while autistic children aged 8–13 (AU;n = 40), siblings of autistic children (SIB;n = 26), and non‐autistic controls (NA;n = 36) performed a simple reaction‐time task to auditory (A), visual (V), and audiovisual (AV) stimuli. Analyses targeted event‐related potentials (ERPs), alpha‐band event‐related desynchronization (α‐ERD), and long‐range theta‐band functional connectivity. Groups did not differ across unisensory measures, indicating comparable unisensory processing. By contrast, multisensory integration (MSI;AV‐(A+V)) differed across groups: NA children showed significant ERP MSI over parieto‐central sites that was absent in AU and SIB; and α‐ERD MSI was significantly reduced in AU, with SIB showing an intermediate profile. Connectivity analyses revealed reduced AV fronto‐parieto‐occipital coupling in autistic children relative to non‐autistic children, suggesting weaker large‐scale coordination during multisensory processing. These results point to a multisensory‐specific deficit spanning early sensory encoding, posterior α‐ERD, and fronto‐posterior coupling and support disrupted multisensory influences on sensory processing due to reduced multisensory attentional orienting. SIB profiles suggest inherited liability for these neural phenotypes. These results help explain well‐documented behavioral MSI differences in autism by linking impaired early enhancement with attenuated top‐down control of sensory cortex.

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Data

Datasets cited

• openneuro:ds006780, at OpenNeuro; found in “Data Availability Statement”

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in OpenNeuro at https://openneuro.org/datasets/ds006780/versions/1.0.0, reference number ds006780.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Version 1, 30 October 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, pages, dates, 4 authors, 10 keywords, 3 funders, 105 references.

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This paper

Vanneau, T., Foxe, J. J., Beker, S., & Molholm, S. (2026). Disrupted Top-Down Modulation as a Mechanism of Impaired Multisensory Processing in Autistic Children. Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany), e78528. https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.78528

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