Kozhemiako Nataliia, Nunes Adonay S, Vakorin Vasily, Iarocci Grace, Ribary Urs, Doesburg Sam M
Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada.
Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience Institute, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada.
Cereb Cortex. 2020 Jul 30;30(9):5166-5179. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa109.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is diagnosed more often in males with a ratio of 1:4 females/males. This bias is even stronger in neuroimaging studies. There is a growing evidence suggesting that local connectivity and its developmental trajectory is altered in ASD. Here, we aim to investigate how local connectivity and its age-related trajectories vary with ASD in both males and females. We used resting-state fMRI data from the ABIDE I and II repository: males (n = 102) and females (n = 92) with ASD, and typically developing males (n = 104) and females (n = 92) aged between 6 and 26. Local connectivity was quantified as regional homogeneity. We found increases in local connectivity in participants with ASD in the somatomotor and limbic networks and decreased local connectivity within the default mode network. These alterations were more pronounced in females with ASD. In addition, the association between local connectivity and ASD symptoms was more robust in females. Females with ASD had the most distinct developmental trajectories of local connectivity compared with other groups. Overall, our findings of more pronounced local connectivity alterations in females with ASD could indicate a greater etiological load for an ASD diagnosis in this group congruent with the female protective effect hypothesis.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）在男性中的诊断率更高，男女比例为1:4。这种偏差在神经影像学研究中更为明显。越来越多的证据表明，ASD患者的局部连通性及其发育轨迹发生了改变。在此，我们旨在研究男性和女性ASD患者的局部连通性及其与年龄相关的轨迹如何变化。我们使用了来自ABIDE I和II数据库的静息态功能磁共振成像数据：年龄在6至26岁之间的患有ASD的男性（n = 102）和女性（n = 92），以及发育正常的男性（n = 104）和女性（n = 92）。局部连通性通过区域同质性进行量化。我们发现，ASD患者在躯体运动和边缘网络中的局部连通性增加，而在默认模式网络中的局部连通性降低。这些改变在患有ASD的女性中更为明显。此外，局部连通性与ASD症状之间的关联在女性中更强。与其他组相比，患有ASD的女性具有最独特的局部连通性发育轨迹。总体而言，我们关于患有ASD的女性中局部连通性改变更为明显的发现可能表明，与女性保护效应假说一致，该组中ASD诊断的病因负荷更大。
