Study On Resting-State Brain Network Characteristic Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate the characteristic of resting-state functional brain connectivity and network property of children with autism spectrum disorder,and explore the correlation between the changes and symptoms.Methods1.Apply questionnaire to investigate the demographic data,growing situation and family environment.2.Divided Children with ASD and typical development(TD)into childhood and adolescent groups.All subjects were administered WISC-IV(Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children,the fourth edition,Chinese version)and evaluate the clinical symptoms of children with ASD.3.Resting-state fMRI of all subjects was collected to investigate the brain connectivy and network property abnormality,and compare the difference in two groups of ASD with TD.Analysis the correlation between the changes and symptoms.ResultsHyperconnectivity was observed between anterior insula,anterior cingulate cortex belonged to salience network and superior temporal gyrus,inferior frontal gyrus belonged to language network in children with ASD.And the connectivity between SN and dorsal attention network(DAN)was increased in ASD.The clustering coefficient(C_p),shortest path length(L_p)and normalized path length(?)is decreased in ASD,and the global efficient in ASD is increased.?is negatively correlated with communication and activity ability score in CARS.The betweenness centrality of left posterior cingulate gyrus(PCC),right thalamus in ASD is higher than that in TD,and the“intelligence function”in CARS is negatively correlated with the increased betweenness centrality of PCC.ConclusionsHyperconnectivity was observed between the SN and STG in ASD,this abnormality could be an important biomarker for early diagnosis of ASD.For different age groups,the hyperconnectivity mainly occured in adolescent with ASD.The study found that the global network topology property was disrupted in ASD,and the lesions were related to the severity of ASD symptoms.The characteristic network change of childhood group with ASD was the decrease in local efficient,while the change was increase in global efficient with adolescent with ASD.The difference between ASD and TD in local network was the increased betweenness centrality in PCC,AI and thalamus in ASD,and the increased betweenness centrality was related to symptom severiry.