Altered brain network organization in adults with Asperger's syndrome
Poster No:
400
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Fabian-Alexande Tietze1, Nooshin Javaheripour2, Gerd Wagner2, Feliberto De La Cruz3, Martin Walter2, Gregor Szycik4
Institutions:
1Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Berlin, 2Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Thuringia, 3Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Thuringia, 4Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Lower Saxony
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Nooshin Javaheripour
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital
Jena, Thuringia
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital
Jena, Thuringia
Feliberto De La Cruz
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital
Jena, Thuringia
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital
Jena, Thuringia
Introduction:
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that persists into adulthood with both social and cognitive disturbances. Asperger's syndrome (AS) was a distinguished subcategory of autism in the DSM-IV-TR defined by specific symptoms including difficulties in social interactions, inflexible thinking patterns, and repetitive behaviour without any delay in language or cognitive development. Studying the functional brain organization of individuals with these specific symptoms may help to better understand Autism spectrum symptoms.
Methods:
The aim of this study is therefore to investigate functional connectivity as well as functional network organization characteristics using graph-theory measures of the whole brain in male adults with AS compared to healthy controls (HC) (AS: n = 15, age range 21-55 (mean ± sd: 39.5 ± 11.6), HC: n = 15, age range 22-57 [mean ± sd: 33.5 ± 8.5]).
Results:
No significant differences were found when comparing the region-by-region connectivity at the whole-brain level between the AS group and HC. However, measures of "transitivity," which reflect local information processing and functional segregation, and "assortativity," indicating network resilience, were reduced in the AS group compared to HC. On the other hand, global efficiency, which represents the overall effectiveness and speed of information transfer across the entire brain network, was increased in the AS group.
·Schaefer parcellation scheme with 400-area categorized in seven networks by Thomas Yeo et al. (2011)
·Comparisons of graph theory metrics between individuals with Asperger's syndrome (AS) and healthy controls.
Conclusions:
Our findings suggest that individuals with AS may have alterations in the organization and functioning of brain networks, which could contribute to the distinctive cognitive and behavioural features associated with this condition. We suggest further research to explore the association between these altered functional patterns in brain networks and specific behavioral traits observed in individuals with AS, which could provide valuable insights into the underlying mechanisms of its symptomatology.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Neurodevelopmental/ Early Life (eg. ADHD, autism) 1
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Task-Independent and Resting-State Analysis 2
Keywords:
ADULTS
Autism
MRI
1|2Indicates the priority used for review