Otto Hahn Research Group Cognitive Neurogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication: Function, Structure, and Plasticity (IMPRS NeuroCom), Leipzig, Germany.
Mol Psychiatry. 2023 Oct;28(10):4331-4341. doi: 10.1038/s41380-023-02220-x. Epub 2023 Aug 16.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition involving atypical sensory-perceptual functions together with language and socio-cognitive deficits. Previous work has reported subtle alterations in the asymmetry of brain structure and reduced laterality of functional activation in individuals with autism relative to non-autistic individuals (NAI). However, whether functional asymmetries show altered intrinsic systematic organization in autism remains unclear. Here, we examined inter- and intra-hemispheric asymmetry of intrinsic functional gradients capturing connectome organization along three axes, stretching between sensory-default, somatomotor-visual, and default-multiple demand networks, to study system-level hemispheric imbalances in autism. We observed decreased leftward functional asymmetry of language network organization in individuals with autism, relative to NAI. Whereas language network asymmetry varied across age groups in NAI, this was not the case in autism, suggesting atypical functional laterality in autism may result from altered developmental trajectories. Finally, we observed that intra- but not inter-hemispheric features were predictive of the severity of autistic traits. Our findings illustrate how regional and patterned functional lateralization is altered in autism at the system level. Such differences may be rooted in atypical developmental trajectories of functional organization asymmetry in autism.
自闭症是一种神经发育障碍，涉及到非典型的感觉-知觉功能，以及语言和社会认知缺陷。先前的研究报告称，自闭症患者的大脑结构不对称性存在细微改变，功能激活的偏侧性降低，与非自闭症个体（NAI）相比。然而，自闭症患者的功能不对称性是否表现出内在系统组织的改变尚不清楚。在这里，我们研究了内在功能梯度的半球间和半球内不对称性，这些梯度捕捉了三个轴上的连接组组织，从感觉默认、躯体运动-视觉和默认-多需求网络延伸。我们观察到自闭症患者的语言网络组织的左功能不对称性降低，与 NAI 相比。而在 NAI 中，语言网络的不对称性随年龄组而变化，但在自闭症中并非如此，这表明自闭症中的功能偏侧性可能是由于发育轨迹的改变。最后，我们观察到，自闭症患者的语言网络组织的左功能不对称性降低，与 NAI 相比。而在 NAI 中，语言网络的不对称性随年龄组而变化，但在自闭症中并非如此，这表明自闭症中的功能偏侧性可能是由于发育轨迹的改变。最后，我们观察到，自闭症患者的语言网络组织的左功能不对称性降低，与 NAI 相比。而在 NAI 中，语言网络的不对称性随年龄组而变化，但在自闭症中并非如此，这表明自闭症中的功能偏侧性可能是由于发育轨迹的改变。最后，我们观察到，内但不是外大脑特征可以预测自闭症特征的严重程度。我们的发现说明了在自闭症中，区域和模式化的功能偏侧性是如何在系统水平上改变的。这些差异可能源于自闭症中功能组织不对称性的异常发育轨迹。
