Cannabidiol and fronto-parietal EEG connectivity in autistic children

Abstract

Autistic children often show altered brain network connectivity, including circuitry implicated in social cognition. Cannabidiol (CBD) has emerged as a potential therapy for autism, but its neural mechanisms remain under-researched. Here, we analyze resting-state data collected as part of a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial, to explore whether 12 weeks of oral CBD oil could modulate functional connectivity in autistic children. Twenty-nine autistic children (5 to 12 years) completed two 12-week intervention periods (CBD and placebo, randomized) separated by an 8-week washout. Before and after each period, 5 min of eyes-open resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) were obtained from a subset of 18 participants (8 female). Functional connectivity was calculated across 16 electrode-pairs in the delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma bands. Beta-band connectivity between the right frontal and right inferior-parietal electrodes increased following CBD (P = 0.001, false discovery rate [FDR]-corrected P [pFDR] = 0.022), and alpha connectivity showed an increase that did not remain following FDR correction (P = 0.036, pFDR = 0.428). No significant differences were observed following placebo for any frequency band (pFDR > 0.69). This study provides preliminary evidence that 12 weeks of cannabidiol is associated with an increase in right fronto-parietal (F4–P8) functional connectivity in autistic children, most pronounced in the beta-band. Replication in larger samples is needed to confirm generalizability and clinical relevance.