A near-infrared spectroscopy study of brain resting state functional connectivity features of frontotemporal lobes in children with autism spectrum disorder / 中国神经精神疾病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the features of frontotemporal lobes'resting-state functional connectivity(rsFC)in preschool children with autism spectrum disorders(ASD)based on functional near-infrared spectroscopy(fNIRS)and to explore the possible neurological markers for early identification of ASD.Methods Sixty-three preschool ASD children and 72 typical development(TD)children were enrolled.Selected bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(DLPFC),bilateral premotor cortex(PMC),and bilateral temporal lobe(TL)cortex as the regions of interest(ROI).Changes of Oxyhemoglobin in the 6 ROIs in resting-state were measured by using functional near-infrared spectroscopy(fNIRS).Compared the frontotemporal rsFC strength and calculate the laterality index(LI)between two groups.Results Compared with the TD group,rsFC strength was significantly lower in the ASD group(P<0.05),and the differences existed mainly within the left ROIs(0.21±0.11 vs.0.32±0.18),right ROIs(0.16±0.16 vs.0.30±0.14),bilateral DLPFCs(0.20±0.14 vs.0.39±0.17;0.15±0.13 vs.0.36±0.13),bilateral TLs(0.15±0.14 vs.0.28±0.17;0.14±0.15 vs.0.31±0.17),and between the 10 groups of ROIs-ROIs(including right DLPFC-left DLPFC,right DLPFC-right PMC,right DLPFC-left PMC,right DLPFC-right TL,right DLPFC-left TL,left DLPFC-right PMC,left DLPFC-left PMC,left DLPFC-right TL,left DLPFC-left TL,right TL-left TL).There were a significant differences in the rsFC's laterality index of DLPFC and whole-brain between the two groups(t=2.002,P=0.047;t=3.003,P=0.003),and the ASD group showed left-lateralized connectivity.Conclusion Frontotemporal lobe's resting-state functional connectivity is abnormal in preschool children with ASD,characterized by low short-range functional connectivity of bilateral DLPFCs and TLs,low long-range functional connectivity associated with DLPFCs,and left-lateralized connectivity.