Márquez-García Amparo V, Ng Bonnie K, Iarocci Grace, Moreno Sylvain, Vakorin Vasily A, Doesburg Sam M
Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada.
School of Interactive Arts and Technology, Simon Fraser University, Surrey, BC V3T 0A3, Canada.
Brain Sci. 2023 Oct 11;13(10):1448. doi: 10.3390/brainsci13101448.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by both atypical functional brain connectivity and cognitive challenges across multiple cognitive domains. The relationship between task-dependent brain connectivity and cognitive abilities, however, remains poorly understood. In this study, children with ASD and their typically developing (TD) peers engaged in semantic and pragmatic language tasks while their task-dependent brain connectivity was mapped and compared. A multivariate statistical approach revealed associations between connectivity and psychometric assessments of relevant cognitive abilities. While both groups exhibited brain-behavior correlations, the nature of these associations diverged, particularly in the directionality of overall correlations across various psychometric categories. Specifically, greater disparities in functional connectivity between the groups were linked to larger differences in Autism Questionnaire, BRIEF, MSCS, and SRS-2 scores but smaller differences in WASI, pragmatic language, and Theory of Mind scores. Our findings suggest that children with ASD utilize distinct neural communication patterns for language processing. Although networks recruited by children with ASD may appear less efficient than those typically engaged, they could serve as compensatory mechanisms for potential disruptions in conventional brain networks.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的特征是大脑功能连接异常以及多个认知领域存在认知挑战。然而，任务相关的大脑连接与认知能力之间的关系仍知之甚少。在本研究中，患有ASD的儿童及其发育正常的同龄人参与了语义和语用语言任务，同时绘制并比较了他们任务相关的大脑连接情况。一种多变量统计方法揭示了连接性与相关认知能力的心理测量评估之间的关联。虽然两组都表现出脑行为相关性，但这些关联的性质有所不同，特别是在各个心理测量类别的总体相关性方向上。具体而言，两组之间功能连接的更大差异与自闭症问卷、BRIEF、MSCS和SRS - 2得分的更大差异相关，但与WASI、语用语言和心理理论得分的差异较小相关。我们的研究结果表明，患有ASD的儿童在语言处理中使用不同的神经通信模式。尽管患有ASD的儿童所招募的网络可能看起来不如通常参与的网络高效，但它们可以作为传统脑网络潜在破坏的补偿机制。
