Altered intrinsic functional connectivity of anterior and posterior insula regions in high-functioning participants with autism spectrum disorder

Ebisch, Sjoerd J. H.; Gallese, Vittorio; Willems, Roel M.; Mantini, Dante; Groen, Wouter B.; Romani, Gian Luca; Buitelaar, Jan K.; Bekkering, Harold

doi:10.1002/hbm.21085

Cited by 255 publications

(201 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…Recently, we demonstrated that SCR was positively correlated with AIC activation in the HC group during rest, while no such correlation was found in the ASD group (Eilam-Stock, et al, 2014). In addition, AIC functional connectivity was abnormal in the ASD participants (Eilam-Stock, et al, 2014), which is in agreement with findings from other studies demonstrating abnormal activity and connectivity of the AIC in individuals with ASD (Di Martino A, K Ross, et al 2009; Uddin LQ and V Menon 2009; Ebisch SJ et al 2011). Functional connectivity during task states, especially directed or effective connectivity during socio-emotional tasks, is under-investigated (Uddin and Menon, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…A handful of studies have directly examined functional connectivity of the AIC in ASD (Ebisch, et al, 2011; Eilam-Stock, et al, 2014; Price, et al, 2008). Recently, we demonstrated that SCR was positively correlated with AIC activation in the HC group during rest, while no such correlation was found in the ASD group (Eilam-Stock, et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Autonomic and brain responses associated with empathy deficits in autism spectrum disorder

Eilam‐Stock

Zhou

et al. 2015

Human Brain Mapping

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Accumulating evidence suggests that autonomic signals and their cortical representations are closely linked to emotional processes, and that related abnormalities could lead to social deficits. Although socio-emotional impairments are a defining feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), empirical evidence directly supporting the link between autonomic, cortical, and socio-emotional abnormalities in ASD is still lacking. In this study, we examined autonomic arousal indexed by skin conductance responses (SCR), concurrent cortical responses measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging, and effective brain connectivity estimated by dynamic causal modeling, in seventeen un-medicated high-functioning adults with ASD and seventeen matched controls, while they performed an empathy-for-pain task. Compared to controls, adults with ASD showed enhanced SCR related to empathetic pain, along with increased neural activity in the anterior insular cortex, although their behavioral empathetic pain discriminability was reduced and overall SCR was decreased. ASD individuals also showed enhanced correlation between SCR and neural activities in the anterior insula. Importantly, significant group differences in effective brain connectivity were limited to greater reduction in the negative intrinsic connectivity of the anterior insular cortex in the ASD group, indicating a failure in attenuating anterior insular responses to empathetic pain. These results suggest that aberrant interoceptive precision, as indexed by abnormalities in autonomic activity and its central representations, may underlie empathy deficits in ASD.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autonomic and brain responses associated with empathy deficits in autism spectrum disorder

Eilam‐Stock

Zhou

et al. 2015

Human Brain Mapping

100

110

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“…The SMH provides a neural explanation for how emotions regulate decision making under ambiguity which precedes explicit insight, through somatic states which guide social behaviour (Damasio et al, 1996). Recent research has demonstrated alterations in intrinsic functional connectivity within neural networks involved in emotional and interoceptive awareness in ASD (Ebisch et al, 2011). The researchers suggest that in light of the SMH and early theories of emotion, these functional abnormalities may be partly responsible for altered emotional experiences and impaired social abilities in ASD.…”

Section: Theoretical Models Of Social Cognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autistic characteristics in adults with epilepsy

Wakeford

Hinvest

Ring

et al. 2014

Epilepsy & Behavior

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“…13,[20][21][22] Reduced SN RS connectivity has been found in children, adolescents and adults with ASD, affecting connectivity within the SN as well as connectivity between SN key nodes and sensory, prefrontal, and emotion processing regions. 19,[22][23][24][25][26][27] Moreover, increased connectivity within the SN and between the insula and striatal/retrosplenial regions has been reported in children with ASD. 13,21,28 Age effects on connectivity involving both DMN and SN core regions have also been demonstrated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alterations in resting state connectivity along the autism trait continuum: a twin study

et al. 2017

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been found to be associated with alterations in resting state (RS) functional connectivity, including areas forming the default mode network (DMN) and salience network (SN). However, insufficient control for confounding genetic and environmental influences and other methodological issues limit the generalizability of previous findings. Moreover, it has been hypothesized that ASD might be marked by early hyper-connectivity followed by later hypo-connectivity. To date, only a few studies have explicitly tested age-related influences on RS connectivity alterations in ASD. Using a within-twin pair design (N = 150 twins; 8-23 years), we examined altered RS connectivity between core regions of the DMN and SN in relation to autistic trait severity and age in a sample of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins showing typical development, ASD or other neurodevelopmental conditions. Connectivity between core regions of the SN was stronger in twins with higher autistic traits compared to their co-twins. This effect was significant both in the total sample and in MZ twins alone, highlighting the effect of non-shared environmental factors on the link between SN-connectivity and autistic traits. While this link was strongest in children, we did not identify differences between age groups for the SN. In contrast, connectivity between core hubs of the DMN was negatively correlated with autistic traits in adolescents and showed a similar trend in adults but not in children. The results support hypotheses of age-dependent altered RS connectivity in ASD, making altered SN and DMN connectivity promising candidate biomarkers for ASD.Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, 1 August 2017; doi:10.1038/mp.2017.160 INTRODUCTION Altered patterns of brain connectivity have been suggested as a key neurobiological correlate of the behavioral characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, as findings are inconsistent, the precise brain connectivity characteristics of ASD remain unclear. A large number of resting-state (RS) functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain connectivity studies have shown a complex pattern of both hypo-and hyper-connectivity in ASD.1-3 Notably, a large multi-site classification study including ASD and typically developing individuals (N = 252, 6-36 years) showed that of the top 100 biomarkers of brain connectivity achieving together 90.8% accuracy, 45% were related to hyperconnectivity and the remaining 55% to hypo-connectivity. 4 It is likely that the observed inconsistencies in classical brain connectivity investigations are limited by methodological issues, such as insufficient control for head motion or the inclusion of global signal regression which can modulate or even invert the direction of functional connectivity differences. [5][6][7] Moreover, gender has recently been shown to modulate the direction of connectivity differences in ASD. 8 In contrast, another study found default mode network (DMN) hypo-connectivity in both genders.

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Altered intrinsic functional connectivity of anterior and posterior insula regions in high-functioning participants with autism spectrum disorder

Cited by 255 publications

References 97 publications

Autonomic and brain responses associated with empathy deficits in autism spectrum disorder

Autonomic and brain responses associated with empathy deficits in autism spectrum disorder

Autistic characteristics in adults with epilepsy

Alterations in resting state connectivity along the autism trait continuum: a twin study

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