Grant: Project Grant

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a very common developmental condition, yet the cause remains unknown and effective treatment options to improve outcomes remain limited. Most adults with ASD experience significant motor function difficulties involving balance, posture, coordination, and strength that negatively affect their quality of life, social interaction, confidence and daily functioning. Therefore, such difficulties remain an important treatment target. However, there are no known effective clinical interventions for such difficulties. We previously showed that the part of the brain that controls motor movements, i.e. motor cortex, is abnormally responsive to modifying stimulation, i.e. it shows excessive plasticity in adults with ASD. An excessive plasticity may adversely affect brain health and behavior. We also previously found that magnetic brain stimulation may reduce such excessive plasticity in the motor cortex in adults with ASD. In this study, we will use magnetic bran stimulation to the motor cortex on both sides of the brain in adults with ASD to reduce excessive plasticity in the motor cortex. We expect that an excessive plasticity in the motor cortex will be related to motor function difficulties in ASD and our magnetic brain stimulation will improve motor function difficulties in ASD by reducing the excessive plasticity. We will recruit 100 adults with ASD and 50 control participants. If successful, our study will shed light on the brain processes that underlie motor function difficulties in ASD and will help develop a new treatment for motor function difficulties in ASD to improve outcomes.