Neural Effects of Creative Movement, General Movement, and Sedentary Play Interventions on Interpersonal Synchrony in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Preliminary fNIRS Study

Background/Objectives: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience difficulties with interpersonal synchrony (IPS). While creative movement (CM) interventions have shown benefits for social, cognitive, and motor skills in children with ASD, the neural mechanisms underlying these improvements remain unclear. This pilot randomized control trial examined the behavioral and neural effects of CM, general movement (GM), and sedentary play (SP) interventions. Methods: Twenty-two children with ASD (Mean Age ± SE = 8.7 ± 1.9) participated. Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to measure cortical activation during a drumming synchrony task before and after 8 weeks of intervention. Results: The CM group demonstrated significant improvements in IPS and the most widespread increases in socially enhanced activation across the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and superior temporal sulcus (STS). The GM group showed increased activation in the left IFG, while the SP group showed enhanced activation in the left STS. Children with lower baseline adaptive functioning and social responsiveness showed greater IPS improvement. Conclusions: These findings provide preliminary evidence for the efficacy of CM in improving IPS in children with ASD and support the use of fNIRS to capture neural effects following interventions.