Abstract
Resting-state functional connectivity (FC) analyses have shown atypical connectivity in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as compared to typically developing (TD). However, this view emerges from investigating static FC overlooking the whole brain transient connectivity patterns. In our study, we investigated how age and disease influence the dynamic changes in functional connectivity of TD and ASD. We used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data stratified into three cohorts: children (7–11 years), adolescents (12–17 years), and adults (18+ years) for the analysis. The dynamic variability in the connection strength and the modular organization in terms of measures such as flexiblity, cohesion strength, and disjointness were explored for each subject to characterize the differences between ASD and TD. In ASD, we observed significantly higher inter-subject dynamic variability in connection strength as compared to TD. This hyper-variability relates to the symptom severity in ASD. We also found that whole-brain flexibility correlates with static modularity only in TD. Further, we observed a core-periphery organization in the resting-state, with Sensorimotor and Visual regions in the rigid core; and DMN and attention areas in the flexible periphery. TD also develops a more cohesive organization of sensorimotor areas. However, in ASD we found a strong positive correlation of symptom severity with flexibility of rigid areas and with disjointness of sensorimotor areas. The regions of the brain showing high predictive power of symptom severity were distributed across the cortex, with stronger bearings in the frontal, motor, and occipital cortices. Our study demonstrates that the dynamic framework best characterizes the variability in ASD.
Highlights
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neuro-developmental disorder encompassing a range of disorders including Asperger’s syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder
With recent studies reporting that modularity of dynamic functional networks varies on very short timescales (Betzel et al, 2016, 2017), there is a possibility of tracking instantaneous changes in functional connectivity between brain regions
While motion was slightly higher in children compared to adolescents and adults, we found that there were no significant differences in these measures between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typical development (TD)
Summary
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neuro-developmental disorder encompassing a range of disorders including Asperger’s syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder. Dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) analyses have shown to reveal patterns of brain states that occur commonly as well as transitions among them (Damaraju et al, 2014; Preti et al, 2017). They give an idea about the dynamic reconfiguration that occurs during tasks (Bassett et al, 2011; Braun et al, 2016; Gerraty et al, 2018). With recent studies reporting that modularity of dynamic functional networks varies on very short timescales (Betzel et al, 2016, 2017), there is a possibility of tracking instantaneous changes in functional connectivity between brain regions.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
