全连接组超大规模分析揭示了自闭症中功能连接的典型模式。

Connectome-wide Mega-analysis Reveals Robust Patterns of Atypical Functional Connectivity in Autism.

机构信息

Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Science, and Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

出版信息

Biol Psychiatry. 2023 Jul 1;94(1):29-39. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.12.018. Epub 2022 Dec 23.

DOI:10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.12.018

PMID:36925414

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Neuroimaging studies of functional connectivity (FC) in autism have been hampered by small sample sizes and inconsistent findings with regard to whether connectivity is increased or decreased in individuals with autism, whether these alterations affect focal systems or reflect a brain-wide pattern, and whether these are age and/or sex dependent.

METHODS

The study included resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and clinical data from the EU-AIMS LEAP (European Autism Interventions Longitudinal European Autism Project) and the ABIDE (Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange) 1 and 2 initiatives of 1824 (796 with autism) participants with an age range of 5-58 years. Between-group differences in FC were assessed, and associations between FC and clinical symptom ratings were investigated through canonical correlation analysis.

RESULTS

Autism was associated with a brainwide pattern of hypo- and hyperconnectivity. Hypoconnectivity predominantly affected sensory and higher-order attentional networks and correlated with social impairments, restrictive and repetitive behavior, and sensory processing. Hyperconnectivity was observed primarily between the default mode network and the rest of the brain and between cortical and subcortical systems. This pattern was strongly associated with social impairments and sensory processing. Interactions between diagnosis and age or sex were not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS

The FC alterations observed, which primarily involve hypoconnectivity of primary sensory and attention networks and hyperconnectivity of the default mode network and subcortex with the rest of the brain, do not appear to be age or sex dependent and correlate with clinical dimensions of social difficulties, restrictive and repetitive behaviors, and alterations in sensory processing. These findings suggest that the observed connectivity alterations are stable, trait-like features of autism that are related to the main symptom domains of the condition.

摘要

背景

自闭症的功能连接（FC）神经影像学研究受到样本量小以及关于自闭症个体的连接是增加还是减少、这些改变是影响焦点系统还是反映全脑模式、以及这些改变是否依赖于年龄和/或性别等方面的不一致发现的阻碍。

方法

该研究纳入了来自欧盟自闭症干预纵向欧洲自闭症项目（EU-AIMS LEAP）和自闭症脑成像数据交换库（Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange，ABIDE）1 和 2 倡议的静息态功能磁共振成像和临床数据，共纳入 1824 名参与者（796 名自闭症患者），年龄范围为 5-58 岁。通过典型相关分析评估了 FC 组间差异，并研究了 FC 与临床症状评分之间的关联。