Child Mental Health Research Center, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China.
Qingdao Women and Children' s Hospital, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266011, China.
Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2024 Sep;33(9):3247-3262. doi: 10.1007/s00787-024-02369-y. Epub 2024 Feb 24.
As indicated by longitudinal observation, autism has difficulty controlling emotions to a certain extent in early childhood, and most children's emotional and behavioral problems are further aggravated with the growth of age. This study aimed at exploring the correlation between white matter and white matter fiber bundle connectivity characteristics and their emotional regulation ability in children with autism using machine learning methods, which can lay an empirical basis for early clinical intervention of autism. Fifty-five high risk of autism spectrum disorder (HR-ASD) children and 52 typical development (TD) children were selected to complete the skull 3D-T1 structure and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). The emotional regulation ability of the two groups was compared using the still-face paradigm (SFP). The classification and regression models of white matter characteristics and white matter fiber bundle connections of emotion regulation ability in the HR-ASD group were built based on the machine learning method. The volume of the right amygdala (R = 0.245) and the volume of the right hippocampus (R = 0.197) affected constructive emotion regulation strategies. FA (R = 0.32) and MD (R = 0.34) had the predictive effect on self-stimulating behaviour. White matter fiber bundle connection predicted constructive regulation strategies (positive edging R = 0.333, negative edging R = 0.334) and mother-seeking behaviors (positive edging R = 0.667, negative edging R = 0.363). The emotional regulation ability of HR-ASD children is significantly correlated with the connections of multiple white matter fiber bundles, which is a potential neuro-biomarker of emotional regulation ability.
通过纵向观察发现,自闭症儿童在幼儿期在一定程度上难以控制情绪,且多数儿童的情绪和行为问题随着年龄的增长进一步加重。本研究旨在采用机器学习方法探讨自闭症儿童脑白质及其白质纤维束连接特征与情绪调节能力的相关性,为自闭症的早期临床干预提供依据。选取 55 名自闭症谱系障碍高风险(HR-ASD)儿童和 52 名典型发育(TD)儿童完成头颅 3D-T1 结构和弥散张量成像(DTI)。采用静止面孔范式(SFP)比较两组儿童的情绪调节能力。基于机器学习方法,构建 HR-ASD 组情绪调节能力的脑白质特征和白质纤维束连接的分类和回归模型。右侧杏仁核(R = 0.245)和右侧海马体(R = 0.197)的体积影响建设性情绪调节策略。FA(R = 0.32)和 MD(R = 0.34)对白质纤维束的预测作用具有自我刺激行为。白质纤维束连接预测建设性调节策略(正缘 R = 0.333,负缘 R = 0.334)和寻母行为(正缘 R = 0.667,负缘 R = 0.363)。HR-ASD 儿童的情绪调节能力与多个脑白质纤维束的连接显著相关,这是情绪调节能力的潜在神经生物学标志物。