BACKGROUND Internalizing symptoms like anxiety and depression are common and impairing in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here, we test the hypothesis that aberrant functional connectivity among three brain networks (salience network [SN], default mode network [DMN], and frontoparietal network [FPN]) plays a role in the pathophysiology of internalizing in ASD. METHODS We examined the association between resting-state functional connectivity and internalizing in 102 adolescents and young adults with ASD (n = 49) or typical development (n = 53). Seed-to-target functional connectivity was contrasted between adolescents and young adults with ASD and typically developing subjects using a recent parcellation of the human cerebral cortex, and connections that were aberrant in ASD were analyzed dimensionally as a function of parent-reported internalizing symptoms. RESULTS Three connections demonstrated robust overconnectivity in ASD: 1) the anterior insula to the retrosplenial cortex (i.e., SN-DMN), 2) the anterior insula to the frontal pole (i.e., SN-FPN), and 3) the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to the retrosplenial cortex (i.e., FPN-DMN). These differences remained significant after controlling for age, and no age-related effects survived correction. The SN-DMN connection was associated with greater internalizing in ASD, mediated by a bigger difference between self- and parent-reported internalizing. Control analyses found that the other two connections were not associated with internalizing, and SN-DMN connectivity was not associated with a well-matched control measure (externalizing symptoms). CONCLUSIONS The present findings provide novel evidence for a specific link between SN-DMN overconnectivity and internalizing in ASD. Further, the mediation results suggest that intact anterior insula-retrosplenial connectivity may play a role in an individual's generating insight into his or her own psychopathology.

中文翻译：

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Insula-Retrosplenial Cortex Overconnectivity 通过减少自闭症的洞察力增加内化

背景内化症状如焦虑和抑郁在自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 中很常见且有损害。在这里，我们测试了三个大脑网络（显着网络 [SN]、默认模式网络 [DMN] 和额顶网络 [FPN]）之间的异常功能连接在 ASD 内化的病理生理学中起作用的假设。方法 我们检查了 102 名患有 ASD（n = 49）或典型发育（n = 53）的青少年和年轻人的静息状态功能连接与内化之间的关联。使用最近分割的人类大脑皮层，在患有 ASD 的青少年和年轻成人和典型发育受试者之间对比了种子到目标的功能连接，作为父母报告的内化症状的函数，对 ASD 中异常的联系进行了维度分析。结果 三个连接在 ASD 中表现出强大的过度连接：1) 前岛叶到脾后皮质 (即 SN-DMN)，2) 前岛叶到额极 (即 SN-FPN)，以及 3) 背外侧前额叶皮层到脾后皮层（即 FPN-DMN）。在控制年龄后，这些差异仍然显着，并且没有与年龄相关的影响在校正后幸存下来。SN-DMN 连接与 ASD 中更大的内化相关，由自我和父母报告的内化之间的更大差异介导。对照分析发现其他两个联系与内化无关，SN-DMN 连接与匹配良好的控制措施（外化症状）无关。结论 本研究结果为 SN-DMN 过度连接与 ASD 内化之间的特定联系提供了新证据。此外，中介结果表明，完整的前脑岛 - 脾后连接可能在个人对他或她自己的精神病理学的洞察力中发挥作用。