Common neural substrates of diverse neurodevelopmental disorders

Abstract

Neurodevelopmental disorders are categorized and studied according to their manifestations as distinct syndromes. For instance, congenital prosopagnosia and dyslexia have largely non-overlapping research literatures and clinical pathways for diagnosis and intervention. On the other hand, the high incidence of neurodevelopmental comorbidities or co-existing extreme strengths and weaknesses suggest that transdiagnostic commonalities may be greater than currently appreciated. The core-periphery model holds that brain regions within the stable core perceptual and motor regions are more densely connected to one another compared to regions in the flexible periphery comprising multimodal association regions. This model provides a framework for the interpretation of neural data in normal development and clinical disorders. Considering network-level commonalities reported in studies of neurodevelopmental disorders, variability in multimodal association cortex connectivity may reflect a shared origin of seemingly distinct neurodevelopmental disorders. This framework helps to explain both comorbidities in neurodevelopmental disorders and profiles of strengths and weaknesses attributable to competitive processing between cognitive systems within an individual.

Visual mental imagery in typical imagers and in aphantasia: A millimeter-scale 7-T fMRI study

“…Also in support of this idea, activity in a left-hemisphere mid-dorsolateral PFC area, close to the region we found in typical imagers, was associated with the processing of conscious stimuli relative to comparable but unconscious stimuli (Lau & Passingham, 2006) . Reduced long-range connectivity is a hallmark of various neurodevelopmental disorders (Sokolowski & Levine, 2023) . Within the framework of the Global Neuronal Workspace hypothesis of conscious perception (Dehaene et al, 2006;Mashour et al, 2020) , such a functional disconnection between FIN and FP networks could be interpreted as depriving visual mental imagery of its conscious experiential content.…”

“…In partial agreement with our results, Milton et al (2021) found reduced resting-state functional connectivity between PFC and the visual–occipital network in aphantasia. Reduced long-range connectivity is a hallmark of various neurodevelopmental disorders, perhaps including aphantasia (Sokolowski & Levine, 2023). Within the framework of the Global Neuronal Workspace hypothesis of conscious perception (Dehaene et al, 2006; Mashour et al, 2020), such a functional disconnection between FIN and FP networks could be interpreted as depriving visual mental imagery of its conscious experiential content.…”

“…Can FP dysfunction result in the lack of experiential correlates of access to offline visual information in aphantasia? This could be characterized by an alteration of functional brain networks akin to those observed in some neurodevelopmental disorders (Sokolowski & Levine, 2023). For example, Milton et al (2021) reported reduced resting-state functional connectivity between prefrontal areas and the visual cortex in aphantasic participants, compared to individuals reporting high imagery vividness.…”

Telerehabilitation Pathways in Specific Learning Disorders: Improving Reading and Writing

“…Considering evidence from pathogenesis and biochemical hallmarks, studies have shown mitochondrial impairment in neurodevelopmental disorders [ 12 , 13 ] but only one study considered learning disabilities [ 14 ]. Concerning evidence from neuroimaging across perception, memory, and academic domains, neurodevelopmental deficits in different cognitive areas share a reduced long-range projection between the local perceptual areas that govern consciousness and the high-level prefrontal cortex [ 15 ]. However, SLD remain a complex disease, and indeed, the current literature analyses show that new gene clusters are constantly emerging, and their protein products are involved in numerous biological processes.…”

“…The comorbidity between learning disorders is four to five times higher in samples that have already experienced marked problems in one academic domain compared to the full population [ 17 ] and high comorbidities exist even with other neurodevelopmental and emotional or behavior disorders (i.e., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, anxiety, depression [ 18 , 19 ]). The variability of multimodal associative cortical connectivity may reflect a common origin in seemingly disparate neurodevelopmental disorders: this framework helps describe the comorbidities of neurodevelopmental disorders [ 15 ].…”