Zhou Yuanyue, Shi Lijuan, Cui Xilong, Wang Suhong, Luo Xuerong
Mental Health Institute, the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410011, PR China.
Department of Child Psychiatry, Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Hangzhou, 310013, PR China.
PLoS One. 2016 Mar 17;11(3):e0151879. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151879. eCollection 2016.
The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is frequently reported to have functionally distinct sub-regions that play key roles in different intrinsic networks. However, the contribution of the ACC, which is connected to several cortical areas and the limbic system, to autism is not clearly understood, although it may be involved in dysfunctions across several distinct but related functional domains. By comparing resting-state fMRI data from persons with autism and healthy controls, we sought to identify the abnormalities in the functional connectivity (FC) of ACC sub-regions in autism. The analyses found autism-related reductions in FC between the left caudal ACC and the right rolandic operculum, insula, postcentral gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, and the middle temporal gyrus. The FC (z-scores) between the left caudal ACC and the right insula was negatively correlated with the Stereotyped Behaviors and Restricted Interests scores of the autism group. These findings suggest that the caudal ACC is recruited selectively in the pathomechanism of autism.
前扣带回皮质（ACC）经常被报道具有功能不同的亚区域，这些亚区域在不同的内在网络中发挥关键作用。然而，尽管ACC与多个皮质区域和边缘系统相连，可能参与了几个不同但相关功能领域的功能障碍，但其对自闭症的作用尚未完全明确。通过比较自闭症患者和健康对照者的静息态功能磁共振成像（fMRI）数据，我们试图确定自闭症中ACC亚区域功能连接（FC）的异常情况。分析发现，自闭症患者左侧尾侧ACC与右侧颞叶岛盖、脑岛、中央后回、颞上回和颞中回之间的FC降低。左侧尾侧ACC与右侧脑岛之间的FC（z分数）与自闭症组的刻板行为和狭窄兴趣得分呈负相关。这些发现表明，尾侧ACC在自闭症的发病机制中被选择性激活。
