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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry
Sec. Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Volume 4 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frcha.2025.1477839
This article is part of the Research Topic Advancing interventions and therapeutic outcomes for autistic youth: a multidisciplinary perspective View all articles

Transcranial photobiomodulation for reducing symptoms of autism spectrum disorder and modulating brain electrophysiology in children aged 2 to 7: an open label study

Provisionally accepted
YULI FRADKIN YULI FRADKIN 1*Joaquin Alberto Anguera Joaquin Alberto Anguera 2Alexander J Simon Alexander J Simon 3Luis De Taboada Luis De Taboada 4*Eugenia Steingold Eugenia Steingold 4
  • 1 Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
  • 2 Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States
  • 3 Magnetic Resonance Research Center, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
  • 4 Jelikalite, Inc, New York City, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Small pilot studies have indicated that transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) may help alleviate symptoms of neurological conditions like depression, traumatic brain injury and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).Objective: To examine the effect of tPBM on the behavioral symptoms of ASD and brain electrophysiology in children aged 2 to 7.We conducted an open label, one-arm study with 23 participants, aged 2 to 7, previously diagnosed with ASD. We delivered non-invasively to all participants pulses of nearinfrared light (wavelength 850nm, pulse 40Hz) to cortical nodes of Default Mode Network, Broca and Wernicke areas, and occipital lobe of the brain, twice weekly for 10 weeks. The tPBM was delivered using an investigational medical device designed for this purpose. Changes in ASD symptoms were measured using pre-and post-intervention scores on the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS-2, 2nd Edition). We collected electroencephalogram (EEG) data after each treatment session from all children who tolerated wearing the EEG cap to monitor changes in brain activity.The intervention resulted in a significant 7-point reduction in average CARS-2 scores (t=10.23, p<.0001), along with decreased delta power and increased gamma and beta power in EEG readings. The increase in gamma power was statistically significant (t(14) = 2.30, p = 0.047). Changes in EEG power were significantly correlated with the number of sessions (delta: r(192) = -0.18, p=.013; gamma: r(192) = .19, p=.007; beta: r(192) = .15, p=.04). Improvements in CARS-2 scores were negatively correlated with changes in delta and beta power (delta: r(15) = -.59, p=.020; beta: r(15) = -.54, p=.037). No moderate or severe side effects were reported.This study supports the potential of tPBM as a safe and effective treatment for ASD, and it suggests that EEG measurements may serve as a useful biomarker for future research.

    Keywords: ASD, autism, PBM, tPBM, EEG, Delta power, pediatric neurology

    Received: 08 Aug 2024; Accepted: 03 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 FRADKIN, Anguera, Simon, De Taboada and Steingold. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    YULI FRADKIN, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, 08903, New Jersey, United States
    Luis De Taboada, Jelikalite, Inc, New York City, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.