Reduced functional connectivity to the frontal cortex during processing of social cues in autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

People diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) characteristically present with severe difficulties in interpreting every-day social signals. Currently it is assumed that these difficulties might have neurobiological correlates in alterations in activation as well as in connectivity in and between regions of the social perception network suggested to govern the processing of social cues. In this study, we conducted functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-based activation and connectivity analyses focusing on face-, voice-, and audiovisual-processing brain regions as the most important subareas of the social perception network. Results revealed alterations in connectivity among regions involved in the processing of social stimuli in ASD subjects compared to typically developed (TD) controls-specifically, a reduced connectivity between the left temporal voice area (TVA) and the superior and medial frontal gyrus. Alterations in connectivity, moreover, were correlated with the severity of autistic traits: correlation analysis indicated that the connectivity between the left TVA and the limbic lobe, anterior cingulate and the medial frontal gyrus as well as between the right TVA and the frontal lobe, anterior cingulate, limbic lobe and the caudate decreased with increasing symptom severity. As these frontal regions are understood to play an important role in interpreting and mentalizing social signals, the observed underconnectivity might be construed as playing a role in social impairments in ASD.

Reduced Gray Matter Volume in the Social Brain Network in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…These results are consistent with the notion that the network of the social brain regions is impaired in ASD ( Emery and Perrett, 2000 ; Johnson et al, 2005 ; Frith, 2007 ; Pelphrey and Carter, 2008 ). These results are also consistent with those of several functional neuroimaging studies that have reported reduced functional connectivity in individuals with ASD while engaging in some social tasks, such as facial expression processing ( Welchew et al, 2005 ; Wicker et al, 2008 ; Sato et al, 2012 ), face perception ( Kleinhans et al, 2008 ; Koshino et al, 2008 ; Hoffmann et al, 2016 ; Lynn et al, 2016 ), and mindreading ( Castelli et al, 2002 ). However, structural neuroimaging evidence has been lacking.…”

Abnormal Functional Connectivity of Resting State Network Detection Based on Linear ICA Analysis in Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…It is showed that the dysfunction of ACG in ASD patients is related to the symptoms of behavioral disorders (Thakkar et al, 2008 ). Our results also indicated that the FC of ACG was abnormal, which is related to behavioral disorders in ASD patients (Hoffmann et al, 2016 ). Thirdly, INS is the source of social emotion (Pavuluri and May, 2015 ).…”

Lobular patterns of cerebellar resting‐state connectivity in adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…Supporting our results, a recent fMRI study described a reduction of connectivity specifically between the left temporal area and the superior and medial frontal gyrus (Hoffmann et al ., ), regions that have been implicated in higher mental processes strictly related to social functioning, such as mentalizing and reward anticipation (Amodio & Frith, ).…”