Intrinsic Visual-Motor Synchrony Correlates With Social Deficits in Autism

Abstract

Background Imitation, which is impaired in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and critically depends on the integration of visual input with motor output, likely impacts both motor and social skill acquisition in children with ASD; however it is unclear what brain mechanisms contribute to this impairment. Children with ASD also exhibit what appears to be an ASD-specific bias against using visual feedback during motor learning. Does the temporal congruity of intrinsic activity, or functional connectivity, between motor and visual brain regions contribute to ASD-associated deficits in imitation, motor and social skills? Methods We acquired resting state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans from 100, 8-12 year-old children (50 ASD). Group independent component analysis was used to estimate functional connectivity between visual and motor systems. Brain-behavior relationships were assessed by regressing functional connectivity measures with social deficit severity, imitation and gesture performance scores. Results We observed increased intrinsic asynchrony between visual and motor systems in children with ASD and replicated this finding in an independent sample from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange. Moreover, children with more out-of-sync intrinsic visual-motor activity displayed more severe autistic traits while children with greater intrinsic visual-motor synchrony were better imitators. Conclusions Our twice replicated findings confirm that visual-motor functional connectivity is disrupted in ASD. Furthermore, the observed temporal incongruity between visual and motor systems, which may reflect diminished integration of visual consequences with motor output, was predictive of the severity of social deficits and may contribute to impaired social-communicative skill development in children with ASD.

Altered cerebellar connectivity in autism and cerebellar-mediated rescue of autism-related behaviors in mice

“…The left IPL is believed to integrate visuospatial, motor, and cognitive information 35 , and it has been shown to be critical for imitating and interpreting the gestures of others 36 . These functions are consistent with evidence that children with ASD struggle to efficiently integrate visual information to guide skilled behaviors 37,38 , which is necessary for both imitation and normal social interaction and may be critical to the development of core ASD symptoms 39,40 . Subsequent studies should determine whether the ASD-related behavioral changes observed in mice following RCrusI neuromodulation are mediated by RCrusI–IPL connections.…”

Altered inter‐ and intrahemispheric functional connectivity dynamics in autistic children

“…Aberrant sensory and motor behaviors are common features of ASD, such as clumsiness, motor coordination impairments, hyper‐ and hyposensitivities (Whyatt & Craig, ). Impaired functional synchronization between visual and sensory‐motor network has been demonstrated in previous static functional connectivity studies of ASD (Nebel et al, ; Oldehinkel et al, ). Decreased interhemispheric functional connectivity was also identified in the sensorimotor cortex in individuals with ASD (Anderson et al, ).…”

Restricted and Repetitive Behavior and Brain Functional Connectivity in Infants at Risk for Developing Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…Studies in older children have shown similar associations between greater ASD symptomology and reduced resting-state fc between the visual network and other large-scale functional networks including motor and salience networks (74, 81). Given previous studies that have linked RRBs to atypical sensory response patterns including hyper responsivity to sensory stimuli and sensory seeking behavior (9–11, 14), our findings support the hypothesis that early disordered fc involving the visual network may engender later disruptions in higher order behaviors (82, 83).…”