Characteristics of Brains in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Structure, Function and Connectivity across the Lifespan

Ha, Sungji; Sohn, In Jung; Kim, Nam Wook; Sim, Hyeon Jeong; Cheon, Keun‐Ah

doi:10.5607/en.2015.24.4.273

Cited by 276 publications

(186 citation statements)

References 93 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

173

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…ALPACA may thus choose one peak for some subjects and another for others, in which case comparison across individuals would not involve the same connection. Additionally, in some cases, weaker functional connectivity has been related to some forms of psychopathology (e.g., autism [Ha, Sohn, Kim, Sim, & Cheon, 2015] and depression [Hermesdorf et al., 2015]). In this situation, finding the local maximum may not be desirable in the context of better explaining the neurobiological underpinnings of psychopathology or identifying novel biomarkers because the local maxima may not necessarily reflect the reduced connectivity across the involved regions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential patterns of age‐related cortical and subcortical functional connectivity in 6‐to‐10 year old children: A connectome‐wide association study

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionTypical brain development is characterized by specific patterns of maturation of functional networks. Cortico‐cortical connectivity generally increases, whereas subcortico‐cortical connections often decrease. Little is known about connectivity changes amongst different subcortical regions in typical development.MethodsThis study examined age‐ and gender‐related differences in functional connectivity between and within cortical and subcortical regions using two different approaches. The participants included 411 six‐ to ten‐year‐old typically developing children sampled from the population‐based Generation R study. Functional connectomes were defined in native space using regions of interest from subject‐specific FreeSurfer segmentations. Connections were defined as: (a) the correlation between regional mean time‐series; and (b) the focal maximum of voxel‐wise correlations within FreeSurfer regions. The association of age and gender with each functional connection was determined using linear regression. The preprocessing included the exclusion of children with excessive head motion and scrubbing to reduce the influence of minor head motion during scanning.ResultsCortico‐cortical associations echoed previous findings that connectivity shifts from short to long‐range with age. Subcortico‐cortical associations with age were primarily negative in the focal network approach but were both positive and negative in the mean time‐series network approach. Between subcortical regions, age‐related associations were negative in both network approaches. Few connections had significant associations with gender.ConclusionsThe present study replicates previously reported age‐related patterns of connectivity in a relatively narrow age‐range of children. In addition, we extended these findings by demonstrating decreased connectivity within the subcortex with increasing age. Lastly, we show the utility of a more focal approach that challenges the spatial assumptions made by the traditional mean time series approach.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential patterns of age‐related cortical and subcortical functional connectivity in 6‐to‐10 year old children: A connectome‐wide association study

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Interestingly, imbalances in local versus long-range functional connectivity among cortical and other regions are associated with autism and perhaps schizophrenia (Cao et al, 2016; Ha et al, 2015). The differential regulation of local and long-range cortical connections by MEF2C provides a novel molecular link from the genetics of these disorders and the abnormal brain connectivity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experience-Dependent and Differential Regulation of Local and Long-Range Excitatory Neocortical Circuits by Postsynaptic Mef2c

Rajkovich

Loerwald

Hale

et al. 2017

Neuron

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Development of proper cortical circuits requires an interaction of sensory experience and genetic programs. Little is known of how experience and specific transcription factors interact to determine the development of specific neocortical circuits. Here we demonstrate that the activity-dependent transcription factor, Myocyte enhancer factor-2C (Mef2c), differentially regulates development of local vs. long-range excitatory synaptic inputs onto layer 2/3 neurons in the somatosensory neocortex in vivo. Postnatal, postsynaptic deletion of Mef2c in a sparse population of L2/3 neurons suppressed development of excitatory synaptic connections from all local input pathways tested. In the same cell population, Mef2c deletion promoted the strength of excitatory inputs originating from contralateral neocortex. Both the synapse promoting and synapse suppressing effects of Mef2c deletion required normal whisking experience. These results reveal a role of Mef2c in experience-dependent development of specific sensory neocortical circuits.

show abstract

“…Further transcriptomic analysis of postmortem brains from human ASD individuals revealed altered expression of proteins that are important for functional synaptic activity in the prefrontal cortex and cerebellum (6–9). In addition, several brain imaging studies in living patients report correlations between abnormal frontal lobe connectivity, cortical morphology, amygdala activation and language control centers in ASD individuals compared to neurotypical controls (10–13). …”

Section: Autism Spectrum Disorder and Medical Co-morbiditiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging Roles for the Gut Microbiome in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Vuong

Hsiao

2017

Biological Psychiatry

469

330

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a serious neurodevelopmental disorder that affects one in 45 children in the United States, with a similarly striking prevalence in countries around the world. However, mechanisms underlying its etiology and manifestations remain poorly understood. While ASD is diagnosed based on the presence and severity of impaired social communication and repetitive behavior, immune dysregulation and gastrointestinal issues are common co-morbidities. The microbiome is an integral part of human physiology; recent studies show that changes in the gut microbiota can modulate gastrointestinal physiology, immune function and even behavior. Links between particular bacteria from the indigenous gut microbiota and phenotypes relevant to ASD raise the important question of whether microbial dysbiosis plays a role in the development or presentation of ASD symptoms. Here we review reports of microbial dysbiosis in ASD. We further discuss potential effects of the microbiota on ASD-associated symptoms, drawing upon signaling mechanisms for reciprocal interactions between the microbiota, immunity, gut function and behavior. In addition, we discuss recent findings supporting a role for the microbiome as an interface between environmental and genetic risk factors that are associated with ASD. These studies highlight the integration of pathways across multiple body systems that together can impact brain and behavior and suggest that changes in the microbiome may contribute to symptoms of neurodevelopmental disease.

show abstract

Characteristics of Brains in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Structure, Function and Connectivity across the Lifespan

Cited by 276 publications

References 93 publications

Differential patterns of age‐related cortical and subcortical functional connectivity in 6‐to‐10 year old children: A connectome‐wide association study

Differential patterns of age‐related cortical and subcortical functional connectivity in 6‐to‐10 year old children: A connectome‐wide association study

Experience-Dependent and Differential Regulation of Local and Long-Range Excitatory Neocortical Circuits by Postsynaptic Mef2c

Emerging Roles for the Gut Microbiome in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About