{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T05:37:57Z","timestamp":1785908277510,"version":"3.56.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]]},"group-title":"Neuroscience","reference-count":40,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]],"date-time":"2026-03-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773014400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000025","name":"NIMH","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["R01 MH118362"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01 MH118362"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000025","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000025","name":"NIMH","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["MH118362-02S1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MH118362-02S1"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000025","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000025","name":"NIMH","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["R01MH121462-01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01MH121462-01"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000025","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,21]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Visual processing undergoes rapid development in the first year of life, supporting the emergence of higher-order cognitive, language, and motor functions. Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) provide a non-invasive measure of visual system maturation that may shed light on heterogeneous developmental trajectories among infants at high familial likelihood for autism.<\/jats:p>\n                <jats:p>Infants with an older sibling with autism spectrum disorder (N = 177 at 6 months; N = 132 at 12 months) participated in the Infant Brain Imaging Study\u2013Early Prediction (IBIS-EP) study. Pattern-reversal VEPs were recorded at 6 and 12 months, and developmental skills were assessed at 24 months using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (Bayley-4). VEP components (P1 and N1) were characterized by their amplitude and latency, as well as trial-to-trial variability in these measures. Associations with 24-month cognitive, language, and motor scores were examined using general linear models controlling for age, site, sex, and trial count.<\/jats:p>\n                <jats:p>Robust VEPs were observed at both time points, with age-appropriate morphology and expected developmental changes, including decreases in P1 latency and amplitude from 6 to 12 months. Greater trial-to-trial variability in P1 latency at both time points was associated with higher cognitive and language scores at 24 months. In contrast, conventional measures of mean P1 latency and amplitude were not associated with developmental outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n                <jats:p>These findings suggest that temporal variability in early visual responses may index adaptive sensory-circuit flexibility during a period of rapid experience-dependent development. VEP response-timing variability may therefore provide an early mechanistic marker of sensory-circuit organization relevant to later developmental trajectories.<\/jats:p>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Research Highlights<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:list list-type=\"bullet\">\n                    <jats:list-item>\n                      <jats:p>Greater trial-to-trial variability in visual cortical response timing was associated with higher cognitive and language scores in infants at high familial likelihood for autism.<\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:list-item>\n                    <jats:list-item>\n                      <jats:p>Conventional average VEP measures were unrelated to outcomes, suggesting temporal variability may more sensitively capture relevant neural-circuit differences in this population.<\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:list-item>\n                    <jats:list-item>\n                      <jats:p>Greater variability in early visual responses may reflect adaptive sensory-circuit flexibility during a critical period of neurodevelopment.<\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:list-item>\n                    <jats:list-item>\n                      <jats:p>VEP response-timing measures provide an early mechanistic window into sensory-circuit organization and its relation to later developmental trajectories.<\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:list-item>\n                  <\/jats:list>\n                <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.03.05.709374","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]],"date-time":"2026-03-09T19:45:13Z","timestamp":1773085513000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Visual Cortical Response Variability in Infants at High Familial Likelihood for Autism"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Abigail","family":"Dickinson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Autism Research and Treatment, Semel Institute for Neuroscience, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Madison","family":"Booth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Scott","family":"Huberty","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Declan","family":"Ryan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Autism Research and Treatment, Semel Institute for Neuroscience, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alana","family":"Campbell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jessica B.","family":"Girault","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Neely C.","family":"Miller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research, Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bonnie K.","family":"Lau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology \u2013 Head and Neck Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"John M.","family":"Zempel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pediatric & Developmental Neurology, Department of Neurology. Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sara Jane","family":"Webb","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children\u2019s Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jed T.","family":"Elison","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Child Development, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adrian KC","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Annette M.","family":"Estes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stephen R.","family":"Dager","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Heather C.","family":"Hazlett","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jason J.","family":"Wolff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Robert","family":"Schultz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Autism Research, Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Natasha","family":"Marrus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pediatric & Developmental Neurology, Department of Neurology. 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