Cerebro-cerebellar Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

BackgroundThe cerebellum plays important roles in sensori-motor and supramodal cognitive functions. Cellular, volumetric, and functional abnormalities of the cerebellum have been found in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but no comprehensive investigation of cerebro-cerebellar connectivity in ASD is available. MethodsWe used resting-state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging in 56 children and adolescents (28 subjects with ASD, 28 typically developing subjects) 8–17 years old. Partial and total correlation analyses were performed for unilateral regions of interest (ROIs), distinguished in two broad domains as sensori-motor (premotor/primary motor, somatosensory, superior temporal, and occipital) and supramodal (prefrontal, posterior parietal, and inferior and middle temporal). ResultsThere were three main findings: 1) Total correlation analyses showed predominant cerebro-cerebellar functional overconnectivity in the ASD group; 2) partial correlation analyses that emphasized domain specificity (sensori-motor vs. supramodal) indicated a pattern of robustly increased connectivity in the ASD group (compared with the typically developing group) for sensori-motor ROIs but predominantly reduced connectivity for supramodal ROIs; and 3) this atypical pattern of connectivity was supported by significantly increased noncanonical connections (between sensori-motor cerebral and supramodal cerebellar ROIs and vice versa) in the ASD group. ConclusionsOur findings indicate that sensori-motor intrinsic functional connectivity is atypically increased in ASD, at the expense of connectivity supporting cerebellar participation in supramodal cognition.