Intrinsic functional network organization in high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Converging theories and data suggest that atypical patterns of functional and structural connectivity are a hallmark neurobiological feature of autism. However, empirical studies of functional connectivity, or, the correlation of MRI signal between brain regions, have largely been conducted during task performance and/or focused on group differences within one network [e.g., the default mode network (DMN)]. This narrow focus on task-based connectivity and single network analyses precludes investigation of whole-brain intrinsic network organization in autism. To assess whole-brain network properties in adolescents with autism, we collected resting-state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI) data from neurotypical (NT) adolescents and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We used graph theory metrics on rs-fcMRI data with 34 regions of interest (i.e., nodes) that encompass four different functionally defined networks: cingulo-opercular, cerebellar, fronto-parietal, and DMN (Fair etal., 2009). Contrary to our hypotheses, network analyses revealed minimal differences between groups with one exception. Betweenness centrality, which indicates the degree to which a seed (or node) functions as a hub within and between networks, was greater for participants with autism for the right lateral parietal (RLatP) region of the DMN. Follow-up seed-based analyses demonstrated greater functional connectivity in ASD than NT groups between the RLatP seed and another region of the DMN, the anterior medial prefrontal cortex. Greater connectivity between these regions was related to lower ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) scores (i.e., lower impairment) in autism. These findings do not support current theories of underconnectivity in autism, but, rather, underscore the need for future studies to systematically examine factors that can influence patterns of intrinsic connectivity such as autism severity, age, and head motion.

• Publication year

  2013

• Venue

  Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

• Publication date

  2013-09-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00573PMID 24062673PMCID 3777537
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Functional brain networks and white matter underlying theory-of-mind in autism.

  2014cited by this paper
• Largely typical patterns of resting-state functional connectivity in high-functioning adults with autism.

  2014cited by this paper
• Dysmaturation of the default mode network in autism

  2014cited by this paper
• Default mode network in childhood autism: posteromedial cortex heterogeneity and relationship with social deficits.

  2013influential reference
• Similar Brain Activation during False Belief Tasks in a Large Sample of Adults with and without Autism

  2013cited by this paper
• Local and long-range functional connectivity is reduced in concert in autism spectrum disorders

  2013cited by this paper
• Impaired thalamocortical connectivity in autism spectrum disorder: a study of functional and anatomical connectivity.

  2013cited by this paper
• Reduced functional connectivity within and between ‘social’ resting state networks in autism spectrum conditions

  2012cited by this paper
• Differential Deactivation during Mentalizing and Classification of Autism Based on Default Mode Network Connectivity

  2012influential reference
• Autism-associated promoter variant in MET impacts functional and structural brain networks.

  2012cited by this paper
• Differences in white matter fiber tract development present from 6 to 24 months in infants with autism.

  2012cited by this paper
• Atypical Functional Connectivity of the Amygdala in Childhood Autism Spectrum Disorders during Spontaneous Attention to Eye-Gaze

  2012cited by this paper
• Early math achievement and functional connectivity in the fronto-parietal network.

  2012cited by this paper
• I remember you: a role for memory in social cognition and the functional neuroanatomy of their interaction.

  2012cited by this paper
• Spurious but systematic correlations in functional connectivity MRI networks arise from subject motion

  2012influential reference
• Perspective: Brain scans need a rethink

  2012cited by this paper
• Conn: A Functional Connectivity Toolbox for Correlated and Anticorrelated Brain Networks

  2012influential reference
• Underconnected, but how? A survey of functional connectivity MRI studies in autism spectrum disorders.

  2011cited by this paper
• Resting-State Neural Activity across Face-Selective Cortical Regions Is Behaviorally Relevant

  2011cited by this paper
• Functional differentiation of posterior superior temporal sulcus in autism: a functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging study.

  2011influential reference
• The neural bases of social cognition and story comprehension.

  2011influential reference
• Decreased interhemispheric functional connectivity in autism.

  2011cited by this paper
• Aberrant striatal functional connectivity in children with autism.

  2011cited by this paper
• Altered intrinsic functional connectivity of anterior and posterior insula regions in high‐functioning participants with autism spectrum disorder

  2011influential reference
• Associations and dissociations between default and self-reference networks in the human brain

  2011cited by this paper
• Extracting biomarkers of autism from MEG resting-state functional connectivity networks

  2011cited by this paper
• Brain graphs: graphical models of the human brain connectome.

  2011influential reference
• Disrupted neural synchronization in toddlers with autism.

  2011cited by this paper
• Physiological noise and signal-to-noise ratio in fMRI with multi-channel array coils

  2011cited by this paper
• Nipype: A Flexible, Lightweight and Extensible Neuroimaging Data Processing Framework in Python

  2011cited by this paper
• Research review: Constraining heterogeneity: the social brain and its development in autism spectrum disorder.

  2011cited by this paper
• Abnormal functional connectivity of default mode sub-networks in autism spectrum disorder patients

  2010cited by this paper
• Neuron Review TheDevelopmentofHumanFunctionalBrainNetworks

  2010cited by this paper
• Complex network measures of brain connectivity: Uses and interpretations

  2010influential reference
• Intrinsic functional connectivity as a tool for human connectomics: theory, properties, and optimization.

  2010influential reference
• Alterations of resting state functional connectivity in the default network in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.

  2010cited by this paper
• Intrinsic connectivity between the hippocampus and posteromedial cortex predicts memory performance in cognitively intact older individuals

  2010cited by this paper
• The nature of brain dysfunction in autism: functional brain imaging studies

  2010cited by this paper
• The development of human functional brain networks.

  2010cited by this paper
• Abnormal functional specialization within medial prefrontal cortex in high-functioning autism: a multi-voxel similarity analysis

  2009cited by this paper
• Learning sculpts the spontaneous activity of the resting human brain

  2009cited by this paper
• Functional Brain Networks Develop from a “Local to Distributed” Organization

  2009influential reference
• Mindblind Eyes: An Absence of Spontaneous Theory of Mind in Asperger Syndrome

  2009cited by this paper
• Aberrant functional connectivity in autism: evidence from low-frequency BOLD signal fluctuations.

  2009cited by this paper
• Abnormalities of intrinsic functional connectivity in autism spectrum disorders,

  2009cited by this paper
• Functional brain correlates of social and nonsocial processes in autism spectrum disorders: an activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis.

  2009cited by this paper
• Screening in Adults

  2008cited by this paper
• Author ' s personal copy Minds at rest ? Social cognition as the default mode of cognizing and its putative relationship to the ‘ ‘ default system ” of the brain

  2008cited by this paper
• The maturing architecture of the brain's default network

  2008cited by this paper
• The intrinsic functional organization of the brain is altered in autism

  2008influential reference
• Theory of Mind disruption and recruitment of the right hemisphere during narrative comprehension in autism.

  2008cited by this paper
• Disordered connectivity in the autistic brain: challenges for the "new psychophysiology".

  2007cited by this paper
• Mapping early brain development in autism.

  2007cited by this paper
• Between a ROC and a hard place: decision making and making decisions about using the SCQ.

  2007cited by this paper
• Efficiency and Cost of Economical Brain Functional Networks

  2007influential reference
• A component based noise correction method (CompCor) for BOLD and perfusion based fMRI

  2007cited by this paper
• Accelerated maturation of white matter in young children with autism: A high b value DWI study

  2007cited by this paper
• Functional and anatomical cortical underconnectivity in autism: evidence from an FMRI study of an executive function task and corpus callosum morphometry.

  2007cited by this paper
• Diffusion tensor imaging of white matter in the superior temporal gyrus and temporal stem in autism.

  2007cited by this paper
• Atypically diffuse functional connectivity between caudate nuclei and cerebral cortex in autism

  2006influential reference
• Failing to deactivate: resting functional abnormalities in autism.

  2006cited by this paper
• Partially enhanced thalamocortical functional connectivity in autism.

  2006cited by this paper
• Cortical gray and white brain tissue volume in adolescents and adults with autism.

  2006cited by this paper
• Consistent resting-state networks across healthy subjects

  2006cited by this paper
• A core system for the implementation of task sets.

  2006influential reference
• Overlapping and non-overlapping brain regions for theory of mind and self reflection in individual subjects.

  2006cited by this paper
• Why the frontal cortex in autism might be talking only to itself: local over-connectivity but long-distance disconnection.

  2005cited by this paper
• The human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anticorrelated functional networks.

  2005cited by this paper
• Screening Adults for Asperger Syndrome Using the AQ: A Preliminary Study of its Diagnostic Validity in Clinical Practice

  2005cited by this paper
• When is the brain enlarged in autism? A meta-analysis of all brain size reports.

  2005cited by this paper
• Cortical activation and synchronization during sentence comprehension in high-functioning autism: evidence of underconnectivity.

  2004cited by this paper
• Localization of white matter volume increase in autism and developmental language disorder

  2004cited by this paper
• Autism and Abnormal Development of Brain Connectivity

  2004cited by this paper
• White matter structure in autism: preliminary evidence from diffusion tensor imaging.

  2004cited by this paper
• People thinking about thinking people. The role of the temporo-parietal junction in "theory of mind".

  2003cited by this paper
• Control of goal-directed and stimulus-driven attention in the brain

  2002cited by this paper
• Unusual brain growth patterns in early life in patients with autistic disorder

  2001cited by this paper
• Unusual brain growth patterns in early life in patients with autistic disorder: An MRI study

  2001cited by this paper
• Searching for a baseline: Functional imaging and the resting human brain

  2001cited by this paper
• The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule—Generic: A Standard Measure of Social and Communication Deficits Associated with the Spectrum of Autism

  2000cited by this paper
• Conceptual Processing during the Conscious Resting State: A Functional MRI Study

  1999cited by this paper
• Theory of mind and self consciousness: what is it like to be autistic?

  1999cited by this paper
• Functional connectivity in the motor cortex of resting human brain using echo‐planar mri

  1995cited by this paper
• Does the autistic child have a "theory of mind"?

  1985cited by this paper
• See Blockindiscussions, Blockinstats, Blockinand Blockinauthor Blockinprofiles Blockinfor Blockinthis Blockinpublication

  year unknowncited by this paper

• Network Reconfiguration Underlies Compensatory Muscle Control Across Force Gradients: Parallel Functional Network Evidence from EEG and sEMG.

  2026cites this paper
• NEDA-Net: A neighborhood-enhanced deformable attention network for fMRI brain disease classification

  2026cites this paper
• Normalization and cross-entropy connectivity in brain disease classification

  2025cites this paper
• Heterogeneity of Degree Centrality Revealed Different Subtypes in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

  2025cites this paper
• Autism-related proteins form a complex to maintain the striatal asymmetry in mice

  2025cites this paper
• Lesion Network Mapping of Cognitive Decline in Three Cases of Autism Spectrum Disorder

  2025cites this paper
• Elevated plasma Tau-PT217 linked to decreased hippocampal functional connectivity in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

  2025cites this paper
• EEG dynamic microstate patterns induced by pulsed wave transcranial photobiomodulation therapy

  2025cites this paper
• Approach bias modification training reduces gaming severity and improves brain network topology in internet gaming disorder.

  2025cites this paper
• Multilevel Resting‐State Dysfunctional Connectivity in People With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

  2025cites this paper
• Single–dose methylphenidate induces shift in functional connectivity associated with positive longer term clinical response in adult attention–deficit/hyperactivity disorder

  2025cites this paper
• Review of the Brain’s Behaviour after Injury and Disease for Its Application in an Agent-Based Model (ABM)

  2024cites this paper
• Efficient estimation of the modified Gromov–Hausdorff distance between unweighted graphs

  2024cites this paper
• Functional connectivity of the pediatric brain

  2024cites this paper
• Enhanced diversity on connector hubs following sleep deprivation: Evidence from diffusion and functional magnetic resonance imaging

  2024influential citation
• Peripheral contributions to resting state brain dynamics

  2024cites this paper
• An Analytical Approach for Naturalistic Cooperative and Competitive EEG-Hyperscanning Data: A Proof-of-Concept Study

  2024cites this paper
• Age-atypical brain functional networks in autism spectrum disorder: a normative modeling approach

  2024cites this paper
• Altered intra- and inter-network connectivity in autism spectrum disorder

  2024cites this paper
• Stratifying ASD and characterizing the functional connectivity of subtypes in resting-state fMRI.

  2023cites this paper
• Modeling and Causality Analysis of Human Sensorimotor Control System Based on NVAR Method

  2023cites this paper
• Autismus-Spektrum-Störung im Erwachsenenalter

  2023cites this paper
• Closing the loop between brain and electrical stimulation: towards precision neuromodulation treatments

  2023cites this paper
• Social reward network connectivity differs between autistic and neurotypical youth during social interaction

  2023cites this paper
• Should We Continue to Tell Autistic People that Their Brains are Different?

  2023cites this paper
• Altered resting-state functional connectivity of the brain in children with autism spectrum disorder

  2023cites this paper
• Oxytocin promotes prefrontal population activity via the PVN-PFC pathway to regulate pain.

  2023cites this paper
• Aberrant modular segregation of brain networks in female patients with bulimia nervosa.

  2023cites this paper
• Neural and visual processing of social gaze cueing in typical and ASD adults

  2023cites this paper
• Language Networks in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A systematic review of connectivity-based fMRI studies

  2023cites this paper
• Disrupted network integration and segregation involving the default mode network in autism spectrum disorder.

  2022cites this paper
• Structural filtering of functional data offered discriminative features for autism spectrum disorder

  2022cites this paper
• A Systematic Review of Direct Outputs from the Cerebellum to the Brainstem and Diencephalon in Mammals

  2022cites this paper
• Accounting for motion in resting-state fMRI: What part of the spectrum are we characterizing in autism spectrum disorder?

  2022cites this paper
• Neurophysiological and behavioral effects of multisession prefrontal tDCS and concurrent cognitive remediation training in patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD): A double-blind, randomized controlled fNIRS study.

  2022cites this paper
• Graph Ricci curvatures reveal atypical functional connectivity in autism spectrum disorder

  2022cites this paper
• Topological analysis of brain dynamics in autism based on graph and persistent homology

  2022cites this paper
• mTOR-Dependent Spine Dynamics in Autism

  2022cites this paper
• netANOVA: novel graph clustering technique with significance assessment via hierarchical ANOVA

  2022cites this paper
• Differential age-dependent development of inter-area brain connectivity in term and preterm neonates

  2022cites this paper
• Predicting the Symptom Severity in Autism Spectrum Disorder Based on EEG Metrics

  2022cites this paper
• Cofluctuation analysis reveals aberrant default mode network patterns in adolescents and youths with autism spectrum disorder

  2022cites this paper
• Decreased modular segregation of the frontal–parietal network in major depressive disorder

  2022cites this paper
• Bottom-up vs. top-down connectivity imbalance in individuals with high-autistic traits: An electroencephalographic study

  2022cites this paper
• Cognitive theories of autism based on the interactions between brain functional networks

  2022influential citation
• Cortico-muscular functional network: an exploration of cortico-muscular coupling in hand movements

  2021cites this paper
• Rest-fMRI Based Comparison Study between Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typically Control Using Graph Frequency Bands

  2021cites this paper
• Altered modular segregation of brain networks during the cue-craving task contributes to the disrupted executive functions in internet gaming disorder.

  2021cites this paper
• Altered functional connectivity between hypothalamus and limbic system in fibromyalgia

  2021cites this paper
• Filtering respiratory motion artifact from resting state fMRI data in infant and toddler populations

  2021cites this paper
• A Comparison Study between Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typically Control in Graph Frequency Bands Using Graph and Triadic Interaction Metrics

  2021cites this paper
• Disrupted population coding in the prefrontal cortex underlies pain aversion

  2021cites this paper
• Disrupted network segregation of the default mode network in autism spectrum disorder

  2021cites this paper
• The Connectomes: Methods of White Matter Tractography and Contributions of Resting State fMRI.

  2021cites this paper
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Studies Using fMRI Data and Machine Learning: A Review

  2021cites this paper
• Modulation of striatal functional connectivity differences in adults with and without autism spectrum disorder in a single-dose randomized trial of cannabidivarin

  2021cites this paper
• Relationship between resting-state fMRI functional connectivity with motor and language outcome after perinatal brain injury - A systematic review.

  2021cites this paper
• A pairwise approach for fMRI group studies using the BrainSync Transform

  2021cites this paper
• Intrasubject functional connectivity related to self‐generated thoughts

  2020cites this paper
• fMRI-Kernel Regression: A Kernel-based Method for Pointwise Statistical Analysis of rs-fMRI for Population Studies

  2020cites this paper
• A Review of Default Mode Network Connectivity and Its Association With Social Cognition in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Early-Onset Psychosis

  2020cites this paper
• Altered hypothalamus functional connectivity with limbic system in fibromyalgia and the modulation effect of intervention

  2020cites this paper
• Altered hippocampal-prefrontal communication during anxiety-related avoidance in mice deficient for the autism-associated gene Pogz

  2020cites this paper
• Metrics for graph comparison: A practitioner’s guide

  2019cites this paper
• The sequencing process generated by the cerebellum crucially contributes to social interactions.

  2019cites this paper
• Neonatal brain injury and aberrant connectivity

  2019cites this paper
• Habenula-prefrontal resting-state connectivity in reactive aggressive men - A pilot study.

  2019cites this paper
• Altered resting‐state dynamics in autism spectrum disorder: Causal to the social impairment?

  2019cites this paper
• Autism spectrum disorders: Unbiased functional connectomics provide new insights into a multifaceted neurodevelopmental disorder

  2019cites this paper
• The Functional Brain Organization of an Individual Allows Prediction of Measures of Social Abilities Transdiagnostically in Autism and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

  2019cites this paper
• The Importance of Anti-correlations in Graph Theory Based Classification of Autism Spectrum Disorder

  2019cites this paper
• Application of Graph Theory for Identifying Connectivity Patterns in Human Brain Networks: A Systematic Review

  2019cites this paper
• Effects of the Co‐occurrence of Anxiety and Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder on Intrinsic Functional Network Centrality among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

  2019cites this paper
• Efficient estimation of the modified Gromov-Hausdorff distance between unweighted graphs

  2019cites this paper
• Modular segregation of task-dependent brain networks contributes to the development of executive function in children

  2019cites this paper
• Altered resting state functional connectivity of the cognitive control network in fibromyalgia and the modulation effect of mind-body intervention

  2018cites this paper
• Multimodal approaches to functional connectivity in autism spectrum disorders: An integrative perspective

  2018cites this paper
• Neural correlates of socio-emotional perception in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

  2018cites this paper
• Fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation and degree centrality in autistic children: a resting-state fMRI study

  2018cites this paper
• Recent advances in the use of MRI to assess early human cortical development.

  2018cites this paper
• Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Synchronization of resting fMRI time-series across subjects

  2018cites this paper
• Salience and Frontoparietal Network Patterns in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

  2018cites this paper
• Complex Network Measures in Autism Spectrum Disorders

  2018cites this paper
• Lobular patterns of cerebellar resting‐state connectivity in adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

  2018cites this paper
• Brief Overview of Functional Imaging Principles

  2018cites this paper
• Brain resting‐state networks in adolescents with high‐functioning autism: Analysis of spatial connectivity and temporal neurodynamics

  2018cites this paper
• Overlaps in Brain Dynamic Functional Connectivity between Schizophrenia and Autism Spectrum Disorder

  2018cites this paper
• Reduced prefrontal synaptic connectivity and disturbed oscillatory population dynamics in the CNTNAP2 model of autism

  2018influential citation
• The functional brain organization of an individual predicts measures of social abilities in autism spectrum disorder:Predicting symptoms in autism with brain imaging

  2018cites this paper
• Neonatal brain resting-state functional connectivity imaging modalities

  2018cites this paper
• Overt social interaction and resting state in young adult males with autism: core and contextual neural features

  2018cites this paper
• Corpus callosum and autism

  2017cites this paper
• Multiple functional networks modeling for autism spectrum disorder diagnosis

  2017cites this paper
• Altered intrinsic functional connectivity in the latent period of epileptogenesis in a temporal lobe epilepsy model

  2017cites this paper
• Subtyping cognitive profiles in Autism Spectrum Disorder using a Functional Random Forest algorithm

  2017cites this paper
• Screening of autism based on task-free fMRI using graph theoretical approach.

  2017cites this paper
• Joint Attention and Brain Functional Connectivity in Infants and Toddlers

  2017influential citation
• Frequency-dependent functional connectivity of the nucleus accumbens during continuous transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in major depressive disorder.

  2017cites this paper
• Decreased structural connectivity and resting‐state brain activity in the lateral occipital cortex is associated with social communication deficits in boys with autism spectrum disorder

  2017cites this paper
• Data Quality Influences Observed Links Between Functional Connectivity and Behavior

  2017cites this paper