TY - JOUR
T1 - Organization of brain networks governed by long-range connections index autistic traits in the general population
AU - Barttfeld, Pablo
AU - Amoruso, Lucía
AU - Ais, Joaquín
AU - Cukier, Sebastián
AU - Bavassi, Luz
AU - Tomio, Ailin
AU - Manes, Facundo
AU - Ibanez, Agustín
AU - Sigman, Mariano
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2013 Barttfeld et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Background: The dimensional approach to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) considers ASD as the extreme of a dimension traversing through the entire population. We explored the potential utility of electroencephalography (EEG) functional connectivity as a biomarker. We hypothesized that individual differences in autistic traits of typical subjects would involve a long-range connectivity diminution within the delta band. Methods: Resting-state EEG functional connectivity was measured for 74 neurotypical subjects. All participants also provided a questionnaire (Social Responsiveness Scale, SRS) that was completed by an informant who knows the participant in social settings. We conducted multivariate regression between the SRS score and functional connectivity in all EEG frequency bands. We explored modulations of network graph metrics characterizing the optimality of a network using the SRS score. Results: Our results show a decay in functional connectivity mainly within the delta and theta bands (the lower part of the EEG spectrum) associated with an increasing number of autistic traits. When inspecting the impact of autistic traits on the global organization of the functional network, we found that the optimal properties of the network are inversely related to the number of autistic traits, suggesting that the autistic dimension, throughout the entire population, modulates the efficiency of functional brain networks. Conclusions: EEG functional connectivity at low frequencies and its associated network properties may be associated with some autistic traits in the general population.
AB - Background: The dimensional approach to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) considers ASD as the extreme of a dimension traversing through the entire population. We explored the potential utility of electroencephalography (EEG) functional connectivity as a biomarker. We hypothesized that individual differences in autistic traits of typical subjects would involve a long-range connectivity diminution within the delta band. Methods: Resting-state EEG functional connectivity was measured for 74 neurotypical subjects. All participants also provided a questionnaire (Social Responsiveness Scale, SRS) that was completed by an informant who knows the participant in social settings. We conducted multivariate regression between the SRS score and functional connectivity in all EEG frequency bands. We explored modulations of network graph metrics characterizing the optimality of a network using the SRS score. Results: Our results show a decay in functional connectivity mainly within the delta and theta bands (the lower part of the EEG spectrum) associated with an increasing number of autistic traits. When inspecting the impact of autistic traits on the global organization of the functional network, we found that the optimal properties of the network are inversely related to the number of autistic traits, suggesting that the autistic dimension, throughout the entire population, modulates the efficiency of functional brain networks. Conclusions: EEG functional connectivity at low frequencies and its associated network properties may be associated with some autistic traits in the general population.
KW - Autism spectrum disorders
KW - Autistic traits
KW - Electroencephalography
KW - Long-range connections
KW - Small world
KW - Synchronization likelihood
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84899150451&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/1866-1955-5-16
DO - 10.1186/1866-1955-5-16
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84899150451
SN - 1866-1947
VL - 5
JO - Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders
JF - Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders
IS - 1
M1 - 16
ER -