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. 2018 Feb 5:9:67.
doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.00067. eCollection 2018.

Variations of the Functional Brain Network Efficiency in a Young Clinical Sample within the Autism Spectrum: A fNIRS Investigation

Yanwei Li  1 , Dongchuan Yu  2
Affiliations

Variations of the Functional Brain Network Efficiency in a Young Clinical Sample within the Autism Spectrum: A fNIRS Investigation

Yanwei Li et al. Front Physiol. .

Abstract

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder with dimensional behavioral symptoms and various damages in the structural and functional brain. Previous neuroimaging studies focused on exploring the differences of brain development between individuals with and without autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, few of them have attempted to investigate the individual differences of the brain features among subjects within the Autism spectrum. Our main goal was to explore the individual differences of neurodevelopment in young children with Autism by testing for the association between the functional network efficiency and levels of autistic behaviors, as well as the association between the functional network efficiency and age. Forty-six children with Autism (ages 2.0-8.9 years old) participated in the current study, with levels of autistic behaviors evaluated by their parents. The network efficiency (global and local network efficiency) were obtained from the functional networks based on the oxy-, deoxy-, and total-Hemoglobin series, respectively. Results indicated that the network efficiency decreased with age in young children with Autism in the deoxy- and total-Hemoglobin-based-networks, and children with a relatively higher level of autistic behaviors showed decreased network efficiency in the oxy-hemoglobin-based network. Results suggest individual differences of brain development in young children within the Autism spectrum, providing new insights into the psychopathology of ASD.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; complex functional brain network; early brain development; fNIRS; individual difference.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
fNIRS probe. A schematic of the customized fNIRS cap layout design including the reference of international 10/20 coordinates, with squares representing source emitters and circles representing detectors.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Grand average of the dynamic hemoglobin concentration changes for one representative channel in each lobe.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Scatter plot showing the association between age and the global (E glob) and local (E loc) network efficiency in the oxy-(A1 and A2), deoxy-(B1 and B2), and total-Hb-based (C1 and C2) networks.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Scatter plot showing the association between levels of autistic behaviors and the global (E glob) and local (E loc) network efficiency in the oxy-(A1 and A2), deoxy-(B1 and B2), and total-Hb-based (C1 and C2) networks.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Clustering results based on the oxy-Hb-based networks (Left) and means and standard deviations (SD) of the total ABC scores for Type I and II ASD (Right), with error bars representing the SDs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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