Functional MRI connectivity of children with autism and low verbal and cognitive performance
Keywords
Functional MRI, Autism Spectrum Disorder, low verbal and cognitive performance
Abstract
Background
Functional neuroimaging research in autism spectrum disorder has reported patterns of decreased long-range, within-network, and interhemispheric connectivity. Research has also reported increased corticostriatal connectivity and between-network connectivity for default and attentional networks. Past studies have excluded individuals with autism and low verbal and cognitive performance (LVCP), so connectivity in individuals more significantly affected with autism has not yet been studied. This represents a critical gap in our understanding of brain function across the autism spectrum.
Methods
Using behavioral support procedures adapted from Nordahl, et al. (J Neurodev Disord 8:20–20, 2016), we completed non-sedated structural and functional MRI scans of 56 children ages 7–17, including LVCP children (n = 17, mean IQ = 54), children with autism and higher performance (HVCP, n = 20, mean IQ = 106), and neurotypical children (NT, n = 19, mean IQ = 111). Preparation included detailed intake questionnaires, video modeling, behavioral and anxiety reduction techniques, active noise-canceling headphones, and in-scan presentation of the Inscapes movie paradigm from Vanderwal et al. (Neuroimage 122:222–32, 2015). A high temporal resolution multiband echoplanar fMRI protocol analyzed motion-free time series data, extracted from concatenated volumes to mitigate the influence of motion artifact. All participants had > 200 volumes of motion-free fMRI scanning. Analyses were corrected for multiple comparisons.
Results
LVCP showed decreased within-network connectivity in default, salience, auditory, and frontoparietal networks (LVCP < HVCP) and decreased interhemispheric connectivity (LVCP < HVCP=NT). Between-network connectivity was higher for LVCP than NT between default and dorsal attention and frontoparietal networks. Lower IQ was associated with decreased connectivity within the default network and increased connectivity between default and dorsal attention networks.
Original Publication Citation
Gabrielsen, T.P., Anderson, J.S., *Stephenson, K.G., *Beck, J., King, J.B., Kellems, R., . . . South, M. (2019) Functional MRI connectivity of children and adolescents with autism and low verbal and cognitive abilities. Molecular Autism 9:67 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-018-0248-y
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Gabrielsen, Terisa P.; Anderson, Jeff S.; Stephenson, Kevin G.; Beck, Jonathan; King, Jace B.; Kellems, Ryan O. Ph.D.; Top, David N. Jr.; Russell, Nicholas C. C.; Anderberg, Emily Irene; Lundwall, Rebecca A.; Hansen, Blake; and South, Mikle, "Functional MRI connectivity of children with autism and low verbal and cognitive performance" (2019). Faculty Publications. 7629.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/7629
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2019
Publisher
Springer Nature
Language
English
College
David O. McKay School of Education
Department
Counseling Psychology and Special Education
Copyright Status
© The Author(s). 2018 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
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