Increased variability in visual processing in children with autism

Autistic children (2–12 years) show reduced visual evoked potential N1 amplitude and lower inter-trial phase coherence, and these amplitude differences disappear after accounting for ITPC.

• Why it matters: VEP amplitude differences in autism are not well explained, limiting understanding of whether altered sensory processing reflects weaker responses or reduced neural consistency.
• What they did: Pattern-reversal VEPs were analyzed in 105 autistic and 102 typically developing children, measuring N1, N1-P1, and ITPC, then relating them to resting EEG periodic alpha activity and aperiodic exponent via multiple linear regression.
• The result: Higher ITPC strongly predicts larger N1 and N1-P1 amplitudes, and within autism higher ITPC is linked to better nonverbal development, verbal cognition, and language scores.

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