Cummings Kaitlin K, Lawrence Katherine E, Hernandez Leanna M, Wood Emily T, Bookheimer Susan Y, Dapretto Mirella, Green Shulamite A
Jane and Terry Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Autism Res. 2020 Sep;13(9):1489-1500. doi: 10.1002/aur.2351. Epub 2020 Aug 28.
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are significantly more likely to experience sensory over-responsivity (SOR) compared to neurotypical controls. SOR in autism has been shown to be related to atypical functional connectivity in the salience network (SN), a brain network thought to help direct attention to the most relevant stimuli in one's environment. However, all studies to date which have examined the neurobiological basis of sensory processing in ASD have used primarily male samples so little is known about sex differences in the neural processing of sensory information. This study examined the relationship between SOR and resting-state functional connectivity in the SN for 37 males and 16 females with autism, ages 8-17 years. While there were no sex differences in parent-rated SOR symptoms, there were significant sex differences in how SOR related to SN connectivity. Relative to females with ASD, males with ASD showed a stronger association between SOR and increased connectivity between the salience and primary sensory networks, suggesting increased allocation to sensory information. Conversely, for females with ASD, SOR was more strongly related to increased connectivity between the SN and prefrontal cortex. Results suggest that the underlying mechanisms of SOR in ASD are sex specific, providing insight into the differences seen in the diagnosis rate and symptom profiles of males and females with ASD. LAY SUMMARY: Sensory over-responsivity (SOR) is common in autism. Most research on the neural basis of SOR has focused on males, so little is known about SOR or its neurobiology in females with autism spectrum disorder. Here despite no sex differences in SOR symptoms, we found sex differences in how SOR related to intrinsic connectivity in a salience detection network. Results show sex differences in the neural mechanisms underlying SOR and inform sex differences seen in diagnosis rates and symptom profiles in autism. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1489-1500. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
与神经典型对照组相比，自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）患者明显更易出现感觉过度反应（SOR）。自闭症中的SOR已被证明与突显网络（SN）中的非典型功能连接有关，突显网络是一个大脑网络，被认为有助于将注意力引导至个体环境中最相关的刺激上。然而，迄今为止，所有研究自闭症感觉处理神经生物学基础的研究主要使用的都是男性样本，因此对于感觉信息神经处理中的性别差异知之甚少。本研究调查了37名年龄在8至17岁的自闭症男性和16名自闭症女性的SOR与SN静息态功能连接之间的关系。虽然在家长评定的SOR症状方面没有性别差异，但在SOR与SN连接性的关系方面存在显著的性别差异。相对于自闭症女性，自闭症男性的SOR与突显网络和初级感觉网络之间连接性增加的关联更强，这表明对感觉信息的分配增加。相反，对于自闭症女性，SOR与SN和前额叶皮质之间连接性增加的关系更为密切。结果表明，自闭症中SOR的潜在机制具有性别特异性，这有助于深入了解自闭症男性和女性在诊断率和症状特征方面的差异。通俗总结：感觉过度反应（SOR）在自闭症中很常见。大多数关于SOR神经基础的研究都集中在男性身上，因此对于自闭症谱系障碍女性的SOR及其神经生物学了解甚少。在此，尽管SOR症状没有性别差异，但我们发现SOR与突显检测网络中内在连接性的关系存在性别差异。结果显示了SOR潜在神经机制中的性别差异，并说明了自闭症诊断率和症状特征中的性别差异。《自闭症研究》2020年，第13卷：1489 - 1500页。© 2020国际自闭症研究协会，威利期刊公司
