Sources of group differences in functional connectivity: An investigation applied to autism spectrum disorder

An increasing number of fMRI studies are using the correlation of low-frequency fluctuations between brain regions, believed to reflect synchronized variations in neuronal activity, to infer “functional connectivity”. In studies of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), decreases in this measure of connect...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Fla.), 2010-01, Vol.49 (1), p.401-414
Main Authors: Jones, Tyler B., Bandettini, Peter A., Kenworthy, Lauren, Case, Laura K., Milleville, Shawn C., Martin, Alex, Birn, Rasmus M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Aging - physiology
Algorithms
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Autism
Brain
Child
Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - pathology
Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - psychology
Executive Function - physiology
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Language
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Neural Pathways - pathology
Neuropsychological Tests
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Regression Analysis
Social Behavior
Studies
Verbal Behavior
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Summary:An increasing number of fMRI studies are using the correlation of low-frequency fluctuations between brain regions, believed to reflect synchronized variations in neuronal activity, to infer “functional connectivity”. In studies of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), decreases in this measure of connectivity have been found by focusing on the response to task modulation, by using only the rest periods, or by analyzing purely resting-state data. This difference in connectivity, however, could result from a number of different mechanisms — differences in noise, task-related fluctuations, task performance, or spontaneous neuronal activity. In this study, we investigate the difference in functional connectivity between adolescents with high-functioning ASD and typically developing control subjects by examining the residual fluctuations occurring on top of the fMRI response to an overt verbal fluency task. We find decreased correlations of these residuals (a decreased “connectivity”) in ASD subjects. Furthermore, we find that this decrease was not due to task-related effects, block-to-block variations in task performance, or increased noise, and the difference was greatest when primarily rest periods are considered. These findings suggest that the estimate of disrupted functional connectivity in ASD is likely driven by differences in task-unrelated neuronal fluctuations.
ISSN:1053-8119
1095-9572
DOI:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.07.051