Department of Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology, and Counseling, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA.
Department of Psychology, Center for Innovative Research in Autism, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA.
Autism Res. 2020 Oct;13(10):1762-1777. doi: 10.1002/aur.2403. Epub 2020 Oct 5.
Higher cognitive functions in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are characterized by impairments in executive functions (EF). While some research attributes this to an overreliance of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), others demonstrate poor recruitment of the PFC in individuals with ASD. In order to assess the emerging consensus across neuroimaging studies of EF in ASD, the current study used a coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation (ALE) analysis of 16 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, resulting in a meta-analysis of data from 739 participants (356 ASD, 383 typically developing [TD] individuals) ranging from 7 to 52 years of age. Within-group analysis of EF tasks revealed that both TD and ASD participants had significant activity in PFC regions. Analysis of group differences indicated greater activation in ASD, relative to TD participants, in the right middle frontal gyrus and the anterior cingulate cortex, and lesser activation in the bilateral middle frontal, left inferior frontal gyrus, right inferior parietal lobule, and precuneus. Although both ASD and TD participants showed similar PFC activation, there was differential recruitment of wider network of EF regions such as the IPL in ASD participants. The under-recruitment of parietal regions may be due to poor connectivity of the frontoparietal networks with other regions during EF tasks or a restricted executive network in ASD participants which is limited primarily to the PFC. These results support the executive dysfunction hypothesis of ASD and suggests that poor frontoparietal recruitment may underlie some of the EF difficulties individuals with ASD experience. LAY SUMMARY: This study reports a meta-analysis of 16 brain imaging studies of executive functions (EF) in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While parts of the brain's EF network is activated in both ASD and control participants, the ASD group does not activate a wider network of EF regions such as the parietal cortex. This may be due to poor EF network connectivity, or a constrained EF network in ASD participants. These results may underlie some of the EF difficulties individuals with ASD experience. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1762-1777. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的高级认知功能表现为执行功能（EF）受损。虽然一些研究将其归因于前额叶皮层（PFC）的过度依赖，而其他人则证明 ASD 患者的 PFC 募集较差。为了评估 ASD 的 EF 神经影像学研究中的新兴共识，本研究使用了 16 项功能磁共振成像（fMRI）研究的基于坐标的激活似然估计（ALE）分析，对来自 739 名参与者（356 名 ASD，383 名典型发育[TD]个体）的数据进行了荟萃分析，年龄从 7 岁到 52 岁不等。EF 任务的组内分析表明，TD 和 ASD 参与者的 PFC 区域均有显著活动。组间差异分析表明，与 TD 参与者相比，ASD 参与者的右额中回和前扣带皮层的激活更大，双侧额中回、左额下回、右顶下小叶和楔前叶的激活更小。尽管 ASD 和 TD 参与者的 PFC 激活相似，但 ASD 参与者的 EF 区域的招募范围更广，例如 IPL。顶叶区域的募集不足可能是由于 EF 任务期间额顶网络与其他区域的连通性较差，或者 ASD 参与者的执行网络受限，主要限于 PFC。这些结果支持 ASD 的执行功能障碍假说，并表明 ASD 个体的 EF 困难可能源于额顶网络募集不足。
