Background

Underconnectivity in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) may be associated with a weakened ability to interpret social signals in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and result in cognitive inflexibility – a hallmark feature of ASD. However, previous neuroimaging studies using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging in ASD reported inconsistent findings on functional connectivity of the PCC. This study investigated the aberrant resting-state functional connectivity of the PCC in ASD using multilevel kernel density analysis.

Methods

Online databases (MEDLINE/PubMed) were searched for PCC-based functional connectivity in ASD. Ten studies (501 subjects; 161 reported foci) met the inclusion criteria of this meta-analysis.

Results

We found one consistent and strong abnormal functional connectivity of ASD during the resting state, which was the hypoconnectivity between the PCC and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC). Importantly, the Jackknife sensitivity analysis revealed that the VMPFC cluster was stably hypoconnected with the PCC in ASD (maximum spatial overlap rate: 100%).

Conclusions

The reduced PCC–VMPFC functional coupling may provide an early insight into the effects of ASD on multiple dimensions of functioning, including higher-order cognitive and complex social functions.

中文翻译：

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自闭症后扣带回皮层和腹内侧前额叶皮层之间的功能低下连接：来自基于坐标的成像荟萃分析的证据。

背景

后扣带回皮层 (PCC) 的连接不足可能与解读自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 中社会信号的能力减弱有关，并导致认知缺乏灵活性——这是 ASD 的标志性特征。然而，之前在 ASD 中使用静息状态功能磁共振成像的神经影像学研究报告了关于 PCC 功能连通性的不一致发现。本研究使用多级核密度分析研究了 ASD 中 PCC 的异常静息状态功能连接。

方法

在线数据库 (MEDLINE/PubMed) 中搜索了 ASD 中基于 PCC 的功能连接。10 项研究（501 名受试者；161 名报告的病灶）符合该荟萃分析的纳入标准。

结果

我们在静息状态下发现了 ASD 的一种一致且强烈的异常功能连接，即 PCC 和腹内侧前额叶皮层 (VMPFC) 之间的连接不足。重要的是，折刀敏感性分析显示 VMPFC 簇与 ASD 中的 PCC 稳定地低连接（最大空间重叠率：100%）。

结论

减少的 PCC-VMPFC 功能耦合可以提供对 ASD 对功能的多个维度的影响的早期洞察，包括高阶认知和复杂的社会功能。