Disrupted Functional Brain Networks in Autistic Toddlers
Disrupted Functional Brain Networks in Autistic Toddlers
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DOI：
10.1089/brain.2012.0127
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发表时间：
2013-02-01
影响因子：
3.4
通讯作者：
van den Heuvel, Martijn P.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Boersma, Maria;Kemner, Chantal;van den Heuvel, Martijn P.
大脑区域之间的信息交流和整合在健康的大脑功能中起着关键作用。相反，大脑交流的中断可能导致认知和行为问题。自闭症是一种神经发育障碍，其特征是社会交往受损和基本信息处理异常。异常的大脑连接模式确实被假设为自闭症的关键神经基础。在本研究中，使用图形分析工具来探索自闭症在大脑发育的早期阶段可能存在的异常功能脑网络组织。本研究利用12名自闭症幼儿（平均年龄3.5岁）和19名对照者的脑电图记录来评估脑功能区域间的连通性，并在脑电图电极下脑区域间的时间同步水平上构建脑功能网络。自闭症儿童表现出明显增加的标准化路径长度和减少的标准化聚类，这表明在早期大脑发育阶段就已经降低了全球沟通能力。此外，发现这些年轻患者的全脑连通性显著降低，这表明自闭症患者的功能性脑网络整体连通性不足。我们的发现支持了自闭症患者神经交流异常的假设，在大脑发育的早期阶段就已经出现了偏离效应。
Communication and integration of information between brain regions plays a key role in healthy brain function. Conversely, disruption in brain communication may lead to cognitive and behavioral problems. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by impaired social interactions and aberrant basic information processing. Aberrant brain connectivity patterns have indeed been hypothesized to be a key neural underpinning of autism. In this study, graph analytical tools are used to explore the possible deviant functional brain network organization in autism at a very early stage of brain development. Electroencephalography (EEG) recordings in 12 toddlers with autism (mean age 3.5 years) and 19 control subjects were used to assess interregional functional brain connectivity, with functional brain networks constructed at the level of temporal synchronization between brain regions underlying the EEG electrodes. Children with autism showed a significantly increased normalized path length and reduced normalized clustering, suggesting a reduced global communication capacity already during early brain development. In addition, whole brain connectivity was found to be significantly reduced in these young patients suggesting an overall under-connectivity of functional brain networks in autism. Our findings support the hypothesis of abnormal neural communication in autism, with deviating effects already present at the early stages of brain development.