Qin Bin, Wang Longlun, Cai Jinhua, Li Tingyu, Zhang Yun
Department of Radiology, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and Disorders, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Translational Medical Research in Cognitive Development and Learning and Memory Disorders, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Clinical Big Data and Drug Evaluation, Medical Data Science, Academy of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Front Psychiatry. 2022 Jul 4;13:896388. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.896388. eCollection 2022.
The present study aims to investigate the functional brain network characteristics of preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) through functional connectivity (FC) calculations using resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) and graph theory analysis to better understand the pathogenesis of ASD and provide imaging evidence for the early assessment of this condition.
A prospective study of preschool children including 32 with ASD (ASD group) and 22 healthy controls (HC)group was conducted in which all subjects underwent rs-fMRI scans, and then the differences in FC between the two groups was calculated, followed by graph-theoretic analysis to obtain the FC properties of the network.
In the calculation of FC, compared with the children in the HC group, significant increases or decreases in subnetwork connectivity was found in the ASD group. There were 25 groups of subnetworks with enhanced FC, of which the medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate gyrus and angular gyrus were all important components of the default mode network (DMN). There were 11 groups of subnetworks with weakened FC, including the hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, precuneus, amygdala, and perirhinal cortex, with the hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus predominating. In the network properties determined by graph theory, the clustering coefficient and local efficiency of the functional network was increased in the ASD group; specifically, compared with those in the HC group, nodes in the left subinsular frontal gyrus and the right middle temporal gyrus had increased efficiency, and nodes in the left perisylvian cortex, the left lingual gyrus, and the right hippocampus had decreased efficiency.
Alterations in functional brain networks are evident in preschool children with ASD and can be detected with sleep rs-fMRI, which is important for understanding the pathogenesis of ASD and assessing this condition early.
本研究旨在通过使用静息态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）进行功能连接（FC）计算和图论分析，研究自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）学龄前儿童的脑功能网络特征，以更好地理解ASD的发病机制，并为该疾病的早期评估提供影像学证据。
对学龄前儿童进行前瞻性研究，其中包括32名ASD儿童（ASD组）和22名健康对照（HC）组，所有受试者均接受rs-fMRI扫描，然后计算两组之间的FC差异，随后进行图论分析以获得网络的FC属性。
在FC计算中，与HC组儿童相比，ASD组的子网连接性有显著增加或减少。有25组子网的FC增强，其中内侧前额叶、后扣带回和角回均为默认模式网络（DMN）的重要组成部分。有11组子网的FC减弱，包括海马体、海马旁回、额上回、颞下回、楔前叶、杏仁核和嗅周皮质，以海马体和海马旁回为主。在由图论确定的网络属性中，ASD组功能网络的聚类系数和局部效率增加；具体而言，与HC组相比，左侧岛叶额叶回和右侧颞中回的节点效率增加，而左侧岛周皮质、左侧舌回和右侧海马体的节点效率降低。
ASD学龄前儿童脑功能网络存在明显改变，可通过静息态rs-fMRI检测到，这对于理解ASD的发病机制和早期评估该疾病具有重要意义。
