Aberrant functioning of the theory-of-mind network in children and adolescents with autism

Kana, Rajesh K.; Maximo, Jose O.; Williams, Dorothy L.; Keller, Timothy A.; Schipul, Sarah E.; Cherkassky, Vladimir L.; Minshew, Nancy J.; Just, Marcel Adam

doi:10.1186/s13229-015-0052-x

Cited by 131 publications

(124 citation statements)

References 79 publications

(102 reference statements)

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“…All these findings illustrate that activations in brain areas implicated in the ventral attention and salience‐executive RSNs are known to be weaker in the ASD population. Also, areas in the salient network and the MNS, that is, the causal flow “bridge” area (Figure ), are critical during self‐ and other‐related social and affective processes, and also known to be underactivated in ASD (Barttfeld et al., ; Kana et al., ). In line with the previously mentioned studies conducted with the help of socioemotional cognitive task‐based fMRI, we observed the same weaknesses in whole‐brain resting‐state functional connectivity, but only when analyzing temporal dynamics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain resting‐state networks in adolescents with high‐functioning autism: Analysis of spatial connectivity and temporal neurodynamics

et al. 2018

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IntroductionAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is mainly characterized by functional and communication impairments as well as restrictive and repetitive behavior. The leading hypothesis for the neural basis of autism postulates globally abnormal brain connectivity, which can be assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Even in the absence of a task, the brain exhibits a high degree of functional connectivity, known as intrinsic, or resting‐state, connectivity. Global default connectivity in individuals with autism versus controls is not well characterized, especially for a high‐functioning young population. The aim of this study is to test whether high‐functioning adolescents with ASD (HFA) have an abnormal resting‐state functional connectivity.Materials and MethodsWe performed spatial and temporal analyses on resting‐state networks (RSNs) in 13 HFA adolescents and 13 IQ‐ and age‐matched controls. For the spatial analysis, we used probabilistic independent component analysis (ICA) and a permutation statistical method to reveal the RSN differences between the groups. For the temporal analysis, we applied Granger causality to find differences in temporal neurodynamics.ResultsControls and HFA display very similar patterns and strengths of resting‐state connectivity. We do not find any significant differences between HFA adolescents and controls in the spatial resting‐state connectivity. However, in the temporal dynamics of this connectivity, we did find differences in the causal effect properties of RSNs originating in temporal and prefrontal cortices.ConclusionThe results show a difference between HFA and controls in the temporal neurodynamics from the ventral attention network to the salience‐executive network: a pathway involving cognitive, executive, and emotion‐related cortices. We hypothesized that this weaker dynamic pathway is due to a subtle trigger challenging the cognitive state prior to the resting state.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain resting‐state networks in adolescents with high‐functioning autism: Analysis of spatial connectivity and temporal neurodynamics

et al. 2018

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“…Further evidence that group differences may be age-dependent comes from a study using a similar task that found no significant differences when children and adolescents with ASD were pooled together (48). Lastly, studies using theory of mind tasks report reduced activation of dorsal mPFC, TPJ, and PCC in children (49) while other studies report increased activation in adolescents with ASD (50) relative to age- matched controls. More studies are needed to clarify the developmental profile of functional deficits in ASD.…”

Section: Task-based Fmri Studies Of Atypical Dmn Functionmentioning

confidence: 91%

The Default Mode Network in Autism

Padmanabhan

Lynch

Schaer

et al. 2017

Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging

245

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by deficits in social communication and interaction. Since its discovery as a major functional brain system, the default mode network (DMN) has been implicated in a number of psychiatric disorders, including ASD. Here we review converging multimodal evidence for DMN dysfunction in the context of specific components of social cognitive dysfunction in ASD: ‘self-referential processing’ - the ability to process social information relative to oneself and ‘theory of mind’ or ‘mentalizing’ - the ability to infer the mental states such as beliefs, intentions, and emotions of others. We show that altered functional and structural organization of the DMN, and its atypical developmental trajectory, are prominent neurobiological features of ASD. We integrate findings on atypical cytoarchitectonic organization and imbalance in excitatory-inhibitory circuits, which alter local and global brain signaling, to scrutinize putative mechanisms underlying DMN dysfunction in ASD. Our synthesis of the extant literature suggests that aberrancies in key nodes of the DMN and their dynamic functional interactions contribute to atypical integration of information about the self in relation to ‘other’, as well as impairments in the ability to flexibly attend to socially relevant stimuli. We conclude by highlighting open questions for future research.

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“…All these results suggest that the worsening of social interaction deficits associated with clinical ADHD in children with ASD might be related to the speech processing network in the left SFG. Furthermore, all the evidence supports the importance of the frontal lobe in social processing and social networks [Casartelli & Molteni, ; Clements et al, ; Greimel et al, ; Kana et al, ], which are affected by ADHD comorbidities in children with ASD. However, more research is required to enable the modeling of these systems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Effects of the Co‐occurrence of Anxiety and Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder on Intrinsic Functional Network Centrality among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

et al. 2019

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Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present with a high co‐occurrence of anxiety and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, it remains unclear how the co‐occurrence of anxiety and ADHD in children with ASD alters whole‐brain functional networks. Here, we aimed to examine anxiety‐ and ADHD‐related brain network centrality in children with ASD separately and their relationships with ASD symptoms. Clinical anxiety and ADHD levels in children with ASD, aged 6–13 years old, were assessed. Participants were categorized into four groups: ASD only (n = 28), ASD + anxiety (n = 19), ASD + ADHD (n = 25), and ASD + both anxiety and ADHD (n = 28). Subsequently, we compared voxel‐wise network degree centrality (DC) among the four groups. We found that: (a) compared with ASD only, children with ASD + anxiety showed higher DC in the left middle temporal gyrus, right lingual gyrus, and left cuneus, and lower DC in the right precuneus; (b) children with ASD + ADHD presented higher DC in the right calcarine and left superior frontal gyrus (SFG) compared with ASD only; (c) children with ASD + both displayed higher DC in the right calcarine and lower centrality in the right middle occipital gyrus compared with ASD only; and (d) across all children with ASD, there was a positive correlation between DC of the right calcarine with nonverbal behavior scores, and DC of the left SFG was negatively correlated with social scores. Our findings suggest that the right calcarine, left SFG, and default mode network nodes play important roles in the co‐occurrence of anxiety and ADHD among children with ASD. Autism Res 2019, 12: 1057–1068. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Lay Summary The co‐occurrence of anxiety and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been shown to influence the brain function of children with ASD. In order to gain a better understanding of this, the present study compared degree centrality, the amount of effective brain functional connectivity that reflects the characteristics of brain networks, among four groups: ASD only, ASD + anxiety, ASD + ADHD, and ASD + both anxiety and ADHD. We found that some areas located in the language processing network and primary visual cortex were associated with the co‐occurrence of ADHD, and some other areas located in the default mode network were associated with the co‐occurrence of both anxiety and ADHD. These findings provide more knowledge about the neural basis underlying behavioral changes related to the co‐occurrence of anxiety and ADHD in children with ASD.

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Aberrant functioning of the theory-of-mind network in children and adolescents with autism

Cited by 131 publications

References 79 publications

Brain resting‐state networks in adolescents with high‐functioning autism: Analysis of spatial connectivity and temporal neurodynamics

Brain resting‐state networks in adolescents with high‐functioning autism: Analysis of spatial connectivity and temporal neurodynamics

The Default Mode Network in Autism

Effects of the Co‐occurrence of Anxiety and Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder on Intrinsic Functional Network Centrality among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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