Unveiling Age-Specific Brain Biomarkers in Autism: Starlab’s Latest Contribution to Neurodevelopmental Research

At Starlab, we’re committed to advancing neuroscience through cutting-edge EEG analytics and translational research. We’re excited to share the publication of our latest study in Clinical Neurophysiology, in collaboration with leading autism researchers and institutions across Europe. This research is part of the AIMS-2-TRIALS initiative — the largest European research program focused on autism.

🔍 The Study

Title: Age-related differences in delta–beta phase–amplitude coupling in autistic individuals

Lead Authors: Eleni Kroupi (Starlab), Emily JH Jones (Birbeck) , Bethany Oakley (King’s College London), Jan Buitelaar (Donders), Tony Charman (King’s College London), Eva Loth (King’s College London), Declan Murphy (King’s College London)), Aureli Soria-Frisch (Starlab)

The study investigates delta–beta phase–amplitude coupling (PAC) in resting-state EEG recordings, focusing on its potential as a neurophysiological marker of autism. A novel approach, debiased PAC (dPAC), was applied to explore group differences across three developmental stages: children, adolescents, and adults.

🧠 Why Delta–Beta PAC?

Phase–amplitude coupling reflects how brain rhythms of different frequencies interact. In particular, delta–beta PAC is thought to reflect long-range top-down regulation of brain activity and has been previously implicated in emotion regulation and executive functioning — areas that are often affected in autism and ADHD.

By examining this signal across age groups and its relationship with behavioral symptoms, the research aimed to uncover biomarkers that are sensitive to both age and symptom severity.

📌 Key Findings

• Autistic adults who met clinical diagnostic thresholds showed significantly higher delta–beta PAC compared to their non-autistic peers.

• These differences were not present in children or adolescents, suggesting an age-specific emergence of this neural signature.

• Across the entire autistic sample (all age groups), PAC levels correlated with clinical measures — including:

  • Restricted and repetitive behaviors (as measured by ADOS-2)

  • ADHD-related hyperactivity/impulsivity traits

🧩 Implications

These findings support delta–beta PAC as a promising neurophysiological biomarker for autism, particularly in adults with more pronounced symptoms. They also underscore the importance of considering age and behavioral dimensions in biomarker research, rather than relying on one-size-fits-all models.

This research contributes to a growing body of work exploring non-invasive EEG-based biomarkers for better understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of autism and related conditions like ADHD.

🧪 Research Context & Collaborations

This work was developed under the AIMS-2-TRIALS project and involved collaboration with:

• Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour

• King’s College London

• Birkbeck, University of London

📖 Read the Full Article

You can access the publication here