Huang Yiting, Vangel Mark, Chen Helen, Eshel Maya, Cheng Ming, Lu Tao, Kong Jian
School of Life Sciences, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States.
Front Integr Neurosci. 2022 Jun 17;16:666439. doi: 10.3389/fnint.2022.666439. eCollection 2022.
Increasing evidence suggests that a subcortical pathway from the superior colliculus (SC) through the pulvinar to the amygdala plays a crucial role in mediating non-conscious processing in response to emotional visual stimuli. Given the atypical eye gaze and response patterns to visual affective stimuli in autism, we examined the functional and white matter structural difference of the pathway in boys with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) boys.
A total of 38 boys with ASD and 38 TD boys were included. We reconstructed the SC-pulvinar-amygdala pathway in boys with ASD and TD using tractography and analyzed tract-specific measurements to compare the white matter difference between the two groups. A region of interest-based functional analysis was also applied among the key nodes of the pathway to explore the functional connectivity network.
Diffusion tensor imaging analysis showed decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) in pathways for boys with ASD compared to TD. The FA change was significantly associated with the atypical communication pattern in boys with ASD. In addition, compared to TD, we found that the ASD group was associated with increased functional connectivity between the right pulvinar and the left SC.
Our results indicated that the functional and white matter microstructure of the subcortical route to the amygdala might be altered in individuals with autism. This atypical structural change of the SC-pulvinar-amygdala pathway may be related to the abnormal communication patterns in boys with ASD.
越来越多的证据表明，从上级丘（SC）经丘脑枕至杏仁核的皮质下通路在介导对情绪视觉刺激的无意识加工中起关键作用。鉴于自闭症患者对视觉情感刺激存在非典型的目光注视和反应模式，我们研究了自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）男孩和发育正常（TD）男孩该通路的功能及白质结构差异。
共纳入38名患有ASD的男孩和38名TD男孩。我们使用纤维束成像技术重建了ASD男孩和TD男孩的SC-丘脑枕-杏仁核通路，并分析特定纤维束测量值以比较两组之间的白质差异。还在该通路的关键节点之间进行了基于感兴趣区域的功能分析，以探索功能连接网络。
扩散张量成像分析显示，与TD相比，ASD男孩通路中的各向异性分数（FA）降低。FA变化与ASD男孩的非典型交流模式显著相关。此外，与TD相比，我们发现ASD组右侧丘脑枕与左侧SC之间的功能连接增加。
我们的结果表明，自闭症患者杏仁核的皮质下通路的功能和白质微观结构可能发生改变。SC-丘脑枕-杏仁核通路的这种非典型结构变化可能与ASD男孩的异常交流模式有关。
