IntroductionUnderstanding the neurological basis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is important for the diagnosis and treatment of this mental disorder. Emerging evidence has suggested aberrant functional connectivity of large-scale brain networks in individuals with ASD. However, whether the effective connectivity which measures the causal interactions of these networks is also impaired in these patients remains unclear.ObjectsThe main purpose of this study was to investigate the effective connectivity of large-scale brain networks in patients with ASD during resting state.Materials and methodsThe subjects were 42 autistic children and 127 age-matched normal children from the ABIDE II dataset. We investigated effective connectivity of 7 large-scale brain networks including visual network (VN), default mode network (DMN), cerebellum, sensorimotor network (SMN), auditory network (AN), salience network (SN), frontoparietal network (FPN), with spectral dynamic causality model (spDCM). Parametric empirical Bayesian (PEB) was used to perform second-level group analysis and furnished group commonalities and differences in effective connectivity. Furthermore, we analyzed the correlation between the strength of effective connectivity and patients’ clinical characteristics.ResultsFor both groups, SMN acted like a hub network which demonstrated dense effective connectivity with other large-scale brain network. We also observed significant causal interactions within the “triple networks” system, including DMN, SN and FPN. Compared with healthy controls, children with ASD showed decreased effective connectivity among some large-scale brain networks. These brain networks included VN, DMN, cerebellum, SMN, and FPN. In addition, we also found significant negative correlation between the strength of the effective connectivity from right angular gyrus (ANG_R) of DMN to left precentral gyrus (PreCG_L) of SMN and ADOS-G or ADOS-2 module 4 stereotyped behaviors and restricted interest total (ADOS_G_STEREO_BEHAV) scores.ConclusionOur research provides new evidence for the pathogenesis of children with ASD from the perspective of effective connections within and between large-scale brain networks. The attenuated effective connectivity of brain networks may be a clinical neurobiological feature of ASD. Changes in effective connectivity of brain network in children with ASD may provide useful information for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

中文翻译：

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自闭症谱系障碍儿童大规模大脑网络的有效连接减弱

IntroductionUnderstanding 自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 的神经学基础对于这种精神障碍的诊断和治疗很重要。新出现的证据表明，自闭症患者的大规模大脑网络存在异常的功能连接。然而，衡量这些网络因果相互作用的有效连通性是否在这些患者中也受到损害仍不清楚。对象本研究的主要目的是调查 ASD 患者在静息状态下大规模脑网络的有效连通性。材料和方法 受试者是来自 ABIDE II 数据集的 42 名自闭症儿童和 127 名年龄匹配的正常儿童。我们研究了 7 个大规模大脑网络的有效连接，包括视觉网络 (VN)、默认模式网络 (DMN)、小脑、感觉运动网络 (SMN)、听觉网络 (AN)、显着网络 (SN)、额顶网络 (FPN)，以及频谱动态因果关系模型 (spDCM)。参数经验贝叶斯 (PEB) 用于执行第二级组分析，并提供有效连接的组共性和差异。此外，我们分析了有效连接强度与患者临床特征之间的相关性。结果对于两组，SMN 都像一个枢纽网络，与其他大规模脑网络表现出密集的有效连接。我们还观察到“三重网络”系统（包括 DMN、SN 和 FPN）内的显着因果相互作用。与健康对照组相比，患有 ASD 的儿童在一些大型大脑网络中的有效连接性有所下降。这些大脑网络包括 VN、DMN、小脑、SMN 和 FPN。此外，我们还发现从 DMN 的右角回 (ANG_R) 到 SMN 的左中央前回 (PreCG_L) 的有效连接强度与 ADOS-G 或 ADOS-2 模块 4 刻板行为和受限兴趣总量之间存在显着负相关(ADOS_G_STEREO_BEHAV) scores.Conclusion 我们的研究从大规模大脑网络内部和之间的有效连接的角度为 ASD 儿童的发病机制提供了新的证据。大脑网络的有效连通性减弱可能是 ASD 的临床神经生物学特征。ASD患儿脑网络有效连接的变化可能为疾病的诊断和治疗提供有用的信息。我们还发现从 DMN 的右角回 (ANG_R) 到 SMN 的左中央前回 (PreCG_L) 的有效连接强度与 ADOS-G 或 ADOS-2 模块 4 刻板行为和受限兴趣总量 (ADOS_G_STEREO_BEHAV) 之间存在显着负相关scores.Conclusion 我们的研究从大规模大脑网络内部和之间的有效连接的角度为 ASD 儿童的发病机制提供了新的证据。大脑网络的有效连通性减弱可能是 ASD 的临床神经生物学特征。ASD患儿脑网络有效连接的变化可能为疾病的诊断和治疗提供有用的信息。我们还发现从 DMN 的右角回 (ANG_R) 到 SMN 的左中央前回 (PreCG_L) 的有效连接强度与 ADOS-G 或 ADOS-2 模块 4 刻板行为和受限兴趣总量 (ADOS_G_STEREO_BEHAV) 之间存在显着负相关scores.Conclusion 我们的研究从大规模大脑网络内部和之间的有效连接的角度为 ASD 儿童的发病机制提供了新的证据。大脑网络的有效连通性减弱可能是 ASD 的临床神经生物学特征。ASD患儿脑网络有效连接的变化可能为疾病的诊断和治疗提供有用的信息。