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Peer-reviewedCC BYJournal of neurodevelopmental disorders

Early sleep and sensory over-responsivity relate to insular functional connectivity with sensorimotor cortices and cerebellum in infants at varying likelihood for autism.

  • Emily Chiem1,2
  • Lauren Wagner3,2
  • Leanna M Hernandez2,4
  • Shulamite Green2,5
  • Mirella Dapretto6,7
7 affiliations
  1. 1Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology Program, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
  2. 2Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
  3. 3Neuroscience Interdepartmental Program, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
  4. 4Center for Autism Research and Treatment, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
  5. 5Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
  6. 6Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA. [email protected].
  7. 7Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA. [email protected].
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Abstract

Sleep problems and sensory over-responsivity (SOR) are common, co-occurring, and early emerging features of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Yet, the early neural mechanisms underlying these symptoms remain unclear. Here, we used resting-state fMRI data from the Infant Brain Imaging Study (IBIS) to examine how functional brain connectivity at 6 months may relate to parent-reported measures of sleep-onset problems and SOR in infants at varying familial likelihood for ASD. The right anterior insula (rAI) - a key hub of the salience network - was used in ROI-ROI analyses to investigate functional connectivity to cortical and cerebellar regions previously implicated in sleep disruption, sensory processing challenges, and ASD. Infants at high (HL) and low (LL) likelihood for ASD displayed divergent patterns of rAI connectivity with sensorimotor cortex, as well as cerebellar regions involved in sensorimotor processing and higher-order functions. Furthermore, stronger rAI connectivity with sensorimotor cortices and cerebellar regions was associated with worse sleep-onset problems and SOR in HL infants. In contrast, stronger rAI-cerebellar connectivity was related to fewer sleep-onset problems and SOR in LL infants. Our findings indicate that altered rAI connectivity may result in over-attribution of attention to sensory stimuli and highlight aberrant sensory prediction learning, which may underlie worse sleep problems and higher SOR in HL infants.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{chiem2026early,
  title = {{Early sleep and sensory over-responsivity relate to insular functional connectivity with sensorimotor cortices and cerebellum in infants at varying likelihood for autism.}},
  author = {Emily Chiem and Lauren Wagner and Leanna M Hernandez and Shulamite Green and Mirella Dapretto},
  journal = {Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders},
  year = {2026},
  month = aug,
  doi = {10.1186/s11689-026-09721-0},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42972539},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Early sleep and sensory over-responsivity relate to insular functional connectivity with sensorimotor cortices and cerebellum in infants at varying likelihood for autism.
AU  - Emily Chiem
AU  - Lauren Wagner
AU  - Leanna M Hernandez
AU  - Shulamite Green
AU  - Mirella Dapretto
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/04
JO  - Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders
DO  - 10.1186/s11689-026-09721-0
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42972539
AB  - Sleep problems and sensory over-responsivity (SOR) are common, co-occurring, and early emerging features of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Yet, the early neural mechanisms underlying these symptoms remain unclear. Here, we used resting-state fMRI data from the Infant Brain Imaging Study (IBIS) to examine how functional brain connectivity at 6 months may relate to parent-reported measures of sleep-onset problems and SOR in infants at varying familial likelihood for ASD. The right anterior insula (rAI) - a key hub of the salience network - was used in ROI-ROI analyses to investigate functional connectivity to cortical and cerebellar regions previously implicated in sleep disruption, sensory processing challenges, and ASD. Infants at high (HL) and low (LL) likelihood for ASD displayed divergent patterns of rAI connectivity with sensorimotor cortex, as well as cerebellar regions involved in sensorimotor processing and higher-order functions. Furthermore, stronger rAI connectivity with sensorimotor cortices and cerebellar regions was associated with worse sleep-onset problems and SOR in HL infants. In contrast, stronger rAI-cerebellar connectivity was related to fewer sleep-onset problems and SOR in LL infants. Our findings indicate that altered rAI connectivity may result in over-attribution of attention to sensory stimuli and highlight aberrant sensory prediction learning, which may underlie worse sleep problems and higher SOR in HL infants.
SN  - 1866-1947
SN  - 1866-1955
ER  -