Attentional and electrophysiological associations with executive function ability in young autistic children

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Leahy, C., Major, S., Howard, J., Carpenter, K. L. H., Tenenbaum, E. J., Franz, L., Vermeer, S., Grapel, J., Compton, S. N., Spanos, M., & Dawson, G. (2025). Attentional and electrophysiological associations with executive function ability in young autistic children. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 24883-24883. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-06006-9

Publication date: 10 Jul 2025 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
11
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 11 (9.1%)
  1. Caroline Leahy
  2. Samantha Major
  3. Jill Howard
  4. Kimberly L. H. Carpenter
  1. Elena J. Tenenbaum
  2. Lauren Franz
  3. Saritha Vermeer
  4. Jordan Grapel *
  1. Scott N. Compton
  2. Marina Spanos
  3. Géraldine Dawson

Abstract

Difficulties in executive functioning (EF) have been consistently reported in autistic individuals, but less is known about the attentional and neural mechanisms driving these difficulties. We explored the associations between EF abilities and sustained attention, measured with eye-tracking, and spontaneous measures of EEG spectral power density in 176 2-8 year-old autistic children with a wide range of cognitive abilities. EF was measured using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). We found that EF abilities were positively associated with look durations while watching complex, audiovisual stimuli involving social content and dyadic speech. We also found that EF was negatively associated with scalp-wide theta power and positively associated with frontal beta and gamma power. These results shed light on attentional and neural associations with EF abilities and underscore the role of frontal brain activity for EF in autism.

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Cited references
51
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
0 / 51 (0.0%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
0 / 209 (0.0%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 0 / 34 (0.0%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 0 / 199 (0.0%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
34 / 209 (16.3%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 24 / 199 (12.1%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
34 / 34 (100.0%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 34 / 209 (16.3%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 24 / 24 (100.0%).
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