scholarly journals Altered Salience Network Connectivity in 6-Week-Old Infants at Risk for Autism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tawny Tsang ◽  
Shulamite Green ◽  
Janelle Liu ◽  
Katherine Lawrence ◽  
Shafali Jeste ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
External Environment ◽  
Network Connectivity ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Social Attention ◽  
Salience Network ◽  
Socially Relevant

Converging evidence implicates disrupted brain connectivity in autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, the mechanisms linking altered connectivity early in development to the emergence of ASD symptomatology remain poorly understood. Here we examined whether atypicalities in the Salience Network (SN) -- an early-emerging neural network involved in orienting attention to the most salient aspects of one's internal and external environment -- may predict the development of ASD markers such as reduced social attention and atypical sensory processing. Six-week-old infants at high-risk for ASD exhibited stronger SN connectivity with sensorimotor regions; low-risk infants demonstrated stronger SN connectivity with prefrontal regions involved in social attention. Infants with higher connectivity with sensorimotor regions had lower connectivity with prefrontal regions, suggesting a direct tradeoff between attention to basic sensory versus socially-relevant information. Early alterations in SN connectivity predicted subsequent ASD symptomatology, providing a plausible mechanistic account for the unfolding of atypical developmental trajectories associated with ASD risk.

scholarly journals Perspective influences eye movements during real-life conversation: Mentalising about self vs. others in autism

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahsa Barzy ◽  
Heather Jane Ferguson ◽  
David Williams
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Social Background ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Social Attention ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Verbal Responses ◽  
Socially Relevant

Socio-communication is profoundly impaired among autistic individuals. Difficulties representing others’ mental states have been linked to modulations of gaze and speech, which have also been shown to be impaired in autism. Despite these observed impairments in ‘real-world’ communicative settings, research has mostly focused on lab-based experiments, where the language is highly structured. In a pre-registered experiment, we recorded eye movements and verbal responses while adults (N=50) engaged in a real-life conversation. Conversation topic either related to the self, a familiar other, or an unfamiliar other (e.g. "Tell me who is your/your mother’s/Marina’s favourite celebrity and why?”). Results replicated previous work, showing reduced attention to socially-relevant information among autistic participants (i.e. less time looking at the experimenter’s face, and more time looking around the background), compared to typically-developing controls. Importantly, perspective modulated social attention in both groups; talking about an unfamiliar other reduced attention to potentially distracting or resource demanding social information, and increased looks to non-social background. Social attention did not differ between self and familiar other contexts- reflecting greater shared knowledge for familiar/similar others. Autistic participants spent more time looking at the background when talking about an unfamiliar other vs. themselvesFuture research should investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying this effect.

scholarly journals Sex Differences in Salience Network Connectivity and its Relationship to Sensory Over‐Responsivity in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1489-1500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaitlin K. Cummings ◽  
Katherine E. Lawrence ◽  
Leanna M. Hernandez ◽  
Emily T. Wood ◽  
Susan Y. Bookheimer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Sex Differences ◽  
Network Connectivity ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Salience Network

scholarly journals Unmasking Anxiety in Autism: Explicit and Implicit Threat Dissociate Amygdala-centered Functional Connectivity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Chun Chen ◽  
Chenyi Chen ◽  
Chia-Chien Liu ◽  
Róger Marcelo Martínez ◽  
Yang-Tang Fan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Autism Spectrum Quotient ◽  
Neural Pathways ◽  
Backward Masking ◽  
Threat Processing ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Socially Relevant ◽  
Amygdala Reactivity

Abstract Background Anxiety is the most prevalent comorbidity in individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Amygdala reactivity to explicit and implicit threat processing offers a platform to assess anxiety. The neural mechanisms underlying the link between anxiety and ASD remains elusive.Methods In this fMRI study, we recruited young adults with ASD (N = 31) and matched them with controls, then proceeded to assess their autistic and anxiety traits by the use of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S), respectively; and scanned their amygdala reactivity in response to explicit and implicit (backward masking) perception of threatening faces.Results As compared to controls, the amygdala reactivity in ASD subjects was significantly reduced to explicit threat, but comparable to implicit threat. The correlations of the amygdala reactivity with the AQ and STAI-S were dissociated depending on threat processing (explicit or implicit). Furthermore, the amygdala in ASD relative to controls had a more negative functional connectivity with the superior parietal cortex, fusiform gyrus, and hippocampus for explicit threat, whereas a more positive connectivity with the medial prefrontal cortex, temporal pole, and hippocampus for implicit threat.Conclusion In ASD, the transmission of socially relevant information along dorsal and ventral neural pathways centered on the amygdala is dissociated depending on explicit and implicit threat processing. This dissociation, ascribed to their failure to compromise pre-existing hyperarousal, might contribute to anxiety in ASD.

Recent Advances and Neural Connectivity in Autism

2019 ◽  
pp. 102-124
Author(s):  
Kiran Srivastava ◽  
Lalit Kumar Singh
Keyword(s):  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
Network Connectivity ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
Columnar Structure ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Cerebral White Matter ◽  
Total Brain Volume ◽  
Mri Morphometry ◽  
Total Brain

The current chapter has reviewed the functional and structural brain connectivity in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Neuropathological studies of the cerebral cortex in autism indicate abnormalities of synaptic and columnar structure and of neuronal migration. The MRI morphometry in young children with autism reveals excessive volume of cerebrum or cerebral white matter or increased total brain volume. The absence of such a volume difference in adults suggests that early hyperplasia in autism is followed by a plateau during which brain growth in normal subjects catches up. The developmental course of brain connectivity and the categorization potential of different connectivity process are important topics that are investigated by different studies. Finally, several studies contribute to a better understanding of the links between cellular abnormalities in the autistic cortex (both cerebral and cerebellar) and disturbances in network connectivity.

344 Studying the Single-cellular Substrates of Autism in a Mouse Model

Neurosurgery ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (CN_suppl_1) ◽  
pp. 277-278
Author(s):  
Gabriel N Friedman ◽  
Mohsen Jamali ◽  
Firas Bounni ◽  
Ziv Williams
Keyword(s):  
Acute Stress ◽  
Neuronal Response ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Cellular Level ◽  
Neuronal Coding ◽  
Basic Model ◽  
Neuronal Mechanisms ◽  
Socially Relevant ◽  
Different Response

Abstract INTRODUCTION Social dysfunction is among the most prominent features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as well as many other developmental and neuropsychiatric conditions. What precise neuronal mechanisms are disrupted in ASD, however, are unknown. The goal of this study is to provide a basic cellular-level understanding and treatment model for ASD. METHODS We developed an alternating appetitive/aversive paradigm in which socially-paired mice experienced both acute stress and food reward while we simultaneously recorded neuronal activity from medial prefrontal cortex. We compared WT to SHANK3 -/+ mice as a model of ASD, to explore the neuronal correlates socially relevant information and its dysfunction. RESULTS >Individual medial prefrontal neurons in SHANK3 -/+ mice displayed markedly different response profiles compared to that of WT. Specifically, neurons in SHANK3 -/+ mice demonstrated little differential response when presented with another unfamiliar mouse or nonsocial totem undergoing the same condition. However, in trials where the recorded mouse and a familiar mouse both receive a negative (painful) stimulus, SHANK3 -/+ mice demonstrated a significantly attenuated firing rate in response to the conspecific mouse, while the WT mice did not show any such differences. This attenuation was not observed when the other mice received positive (rewarding) stimuli. CONCLUSION Our study reveals some of the basic neuronal coding mechanisms that are disrupted in ASD. In particular, they demonstrate that, at the cellular level, autistic mice lack the neuronal-equivalent of an “empathic” response compared to wild-type. This neuronal response may provide a foundational mechanism for egocentric behavioral often found in ASD and suggests a basic model for testing neurobiologically plausible treatments for individuals with autism.

scholarly journals Unmasking Anxiety in Autism: Explicit and Implicit Threatening Faces Dissociate Amygdala-centered Functional Connectivity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Chun Chen ◽  
Chenyi Chen ◽  
Chia-Chien Liu ◽  
Róger Marcelo Martínez ◽  
Yang-Teng Fan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Autism Spectrum Quotient ◽  
Neural Pathways ◽  
Threat Processing ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Socially Relevant ◽  
Adults With Asd ◽  
Amygdala Reactivity

Abstract Background: Anxiety is the most prevalent comorbidity in individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Amygdala reactivity to explicit and implicit threat processing is predictive of anxiety-related symptomatology. The neural mechanisms underlying the link between anxiety and ASD remains elusive. Methods: In this fMRI study, we recruited young adults with ASD (N = 31) and matched them with controls, then proceeded to assess their autistic and anxiety traits by the use of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S), respectively; and scanned their hemodynamic responses, including amygdala, in response to explicit and implicit (backwardly masked) perception of threatening faces. Results: As compared to controls, the amygdala reactivity in ASD subjects was significantly lower to explicit threat, but comparable for implicit threat. The correlations of the amygdala reactivity with the AQ and STAI-S were dissociated depending on threat processing (explicit or implicit). Furthermore, the amygdala in ASD relative to controls had a more negative functional connectivity with the superior parietal cortex, fusiform gyrus, and hippocampus for explicit threat, whereas a more positive connectivity with the medial prefrontal cortex, temporal pole, and hippocampus for implicit threat. Conclusion: In ASD, the transmission of socially relevant information along dorsal and ventral neural pathways centered on the amygdala is dissociated depending on explicit and implicit threat processing. This dissociation, ascribed to their failure to compromise pre-existing hyperarousal, might contribute to anxiety in ASD.

scholarly journals Unmasking Anxiety in Autism: Explicit and Implicit Threatening Face Stimuli Dissociate Amygdala-centered Functional Connectivity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Chun Chen ◽  
Chenyi Chen ◽  
Róger Marcelo Martínez ◽  
Yang-Tang Fan ◽  
Chia-Chien Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Autism Spectrum Quotient ◽  
Neural Pathways ◽  
Threat Processing ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Face Stimuli ◽  
Socially Relevant ◽  
Amygdala Reactivity

ABSTRACTBackgroundAnxiety is the most prevalent comorbidity in individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Amygdala reactivity to explicit and implicit threat processing is predictive of anxiety-related symptomatology. The neural mechanisms underlying the link between anxiety and ASD remains elusive.MethodsIn this fMRI study, we recruited young adults with ASD (N = 31) and matched them with controls, then proceeded to assess their autistic and anxiety traits by the use of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S), respectively; and scanned their hemodynamic responses, including amygdala, in response to explicit and implicit (backwardly masked) perception of threatening faces.ResultsAs compared to controls, the amygdala reactivity in ASD subjects was significantly lower to explicit threat, but comparable for implicit threat. The correlations of the amygdala reactivity with the AQ and STAI-S were dissociated depending on threat processing (explicit or implicit). Furthermore, the amygdala in ASD relative to controls had a more negative functional connectivity with the superior parietal cortex, fusiform gyrus, and hippocampus for explicit threat, whereas a more positive connectivity with the medial prefrontal cortex, temporal pole, and hippocampus for implicit threat.ConclusionIn ASD, the transmission of socially relevant information along dorsal and ventral neural pathways centered on the amygdala is dissociated depending on explicit and implicit threat processing. This dissociation, ascribed to their failure to compromise pre-existing hyperarousal, might contribute to anxiety in ASD.

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