Is Autism Associated with Stronger or Weaker Brain Connections?
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In a new study that sheds light on a longstanding paradox in autism research, investigators showed how children and teens with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can have both stronger and weaker brain connections than their typically developing peers.
Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) revealed that while individuals with ASD have weaker brain connections compared to their peers overall (a measure known as absolute connectivity), they simultaneously exhibited stronger connections within the brain networks implicated in attention and social cognition compared to their other networks (a measure known as relative connectivity). Additionally, the more these brain connections differed from typical development, the more severe the child’s ASD symptoms seemed to be.
Read more about this work from the Center for Autism Research.