# Neurobiobehavioral markers of stress, saliency, and multisensory dysfunction in autism

> **NIH NIH R01** · SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $752,431

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Sensory abnormalities are commonly observed in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In early
interactions with caregivers, visual, auditory, and somatosensory processing is integral to social interchanges
and helps direct attention toward important cues. The integration of sensory information aids in detecting salient
features of the external environment. In ASD, however, there is evidence of atypical multisensory integration and
disrupted salience processing. Ineffective integration and saliency detection of sensory information likely
contribute to cognitive and emotional overload and uncertainty, and increased stress reactivity. Elevated stress
(e.g., cortisol) associated with sensory dysfunction in ASD may further compound core symptomatology and
contribute to later development of internalizing symptoms (e.g., anxiety) frequently co-occurring in ASD. Sensory
abnormalities are often correlated with internalizing symptoms in ASD children, although the underlying neural
and behavioral mechanisms are unclear. Therefore, this research project will investigate the relationship
between multisensory integration, salience processing, and stress reactivity, and establish how abnormalities in
these domains are associated with internalizing symptoms in ASD. These relations will be examined in ASD
children (n=115) and typically developing peers (n=115) between 7 and 10 years of age, when complex
multisensory integration begins to stabilize and risk of developing internalizing symptoms increases. We theorize
that deficits in low-level sensory processing disrupt both high-level multisensory integration and saliency
detection, which are linked to internalizing symptoms; we further hypothesize these links to be moderated by
stress reactivity in ASD. The proposed research aims to: (1) characterize multisensory integration in the context
of saliency detection of sensory information in children with ASD; (2) map activity and functional connectivity of
the neural circuits underlying multisensory integration and salience processing; (3) examine associations
between subjective measures of reported sensory responsivity, quantitative measures of multisensory
integration and saliency detection, and stress reactivity; and (4) relate neural and behavioral measures of
multisensory integration and salience processing, as well as indices of stress reactivity, to co-occurring
internalizing symptoms reported in children with ASD. This project will implement a multimodal approach,
including the collection of quantitative psychophysical discrimination response thresholds (to visual, auditory,
somatosensory, and multisensory stimulation), biological indicators of stress reactivity (i.e., salivary cortisol),
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data (i.e., task and resting state functional connectivity MRI, anatomical
MRI), subjective caregiver-report questionnaires, and cognitive and psychodiagnostic assessments. The findings
will elucidate the links betwee...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10891711
- **Project number:** 5R01MH128419-02
- **Recipient organization:** SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** R. Joanne Jao Keehn
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $752,431
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-01 → 2028-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10891711

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10891711, Neurobiobehavioral markers of stress, saliency, and multisensory dysfunction in autism (5R01MH128419-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10891711. Licensed CC0.

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