Shared and Distinct Intrinsic Functional Network Centrality in Autism and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.02.011

Biological Psychiatry

Volume 74, Issue 8, 15 October 2013, Pages 623-632

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.02.011 Get rights and content

Background

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often exhibit symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Across both disorders, observations of distributed functional abnormalities suggest aberrant large-scale brain network connectivity. Yet, common and distinct network correlates of ASD and ADHD remain unidentified. Here, we aimed to examine patterns of dysconnection in school-age children with ASD and ADHD and typically developing children who completed a resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan.

Methods

We measured voxelwise network centrality, functional connectivity metrics indexing local (degree centrality [DC]) and global (eigenvector centrality) functional relationships across the entire brain connectome, in resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 56 children with ASD, 45 children with ADHD, and 50 typically developing children. A one-way analysis of covariance, with group as fixed factor (whole-brain corrected), was followed by post hoc pairwise comparisons.

Results

Cortical and subcortical areas exhibited centrality abnormalities, some common to both ADHD and ASD, such as in precuneus. Others were disorder-specific and included ADHD-related increases in DC in right striatum/pallidum, in contrast with ASD-related increases in bilateral temporolimbic areas. Secondary analyses differentiating children with ASD into those with or without ADHD-like comorbidity (ASD⁺ and ASD⁻, respectively) revealed that the ASD⁺ group shared ADHD-specific abnormalities in basal ganglia. By contrast, centrality increases in temporolimbic areas characterized children with ASD regardless of ADHD-like comorbidity. At the cluster level, eigenvector centrality group patterns were similar to DC.

Conclusions

ADHD and ASD are neurodevelopmental disorders with distinct and overlapping clinical presentations. This work provides evidence for both shared and distinct underlying mechanisms at the large-scale network level.

Section snippets

Participants

We examined data from 158 children (7.1–13.9 years of age); 7 were excluded for excessive movement. Of the remaining 151 children, 56 children with ASD were group-matched for age, sex, and handedness with 45 children diagnosed with ADHD and 50 TDC, selected from ongoing studies (Table 1). Clinicians’ DSM-IV-Text Revision (TR) diagnoses of autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder, or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (n = 39, n = 15, and n = 2, respectively) were supported

Results

Consistent with the literature 30, 31, 32, 36, 75, across all children, centrality Z-scores were highest in heteromodal cortical regions including insula, medial prefrontal cortex, medial occipital cortex, and precuneus for both DC and EC (Figure S2 in Supplement 1).

Analysis of covariance identified six distinct clusters in which a significant effect of group was noted for DC; no significant effects of group were observed for EC. While EC and DC differed in their sensitivity to group

Discussion

In a substantial sample of children with ASD and ADHD and TDC, we examined whole-brain intrinsic functional architecture by surveying voxelwise network centrality indices, thus bypassing a priori selection of circuits of interest. Degree centrality differentiated children with ADHD or with ASD from TDC in key cortical and subcortical regions, supporting models of ADHD and ASD as disorders of large-scale systems connectivity 12, 15, 77. Along with disorder-specific abnormalities, analyses

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Archival ReportShared and Distinct Intrinsic Functional Network Centrality in Autism and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Participants

Results

Discussion

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ADHD and autism: Differential diagnosis or overlapping traits? A selective review

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A randomized controlled crossover trial of methylphenidate in pervasive developmental disorders with hyperactivity

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J Paediatr Child Health

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J Autism Dev Disord

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J Autism Dev Disord

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Mol Psychiatry

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The new neurobiology of autism: Cortex, connectivity, and neuronal organization

Arch Neurol

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Hum Brain Mapp

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An FMRI study of the effects of psychostimulants on default-mode processing during Stroop task performance in youths with ADHD

Am J Psychiatry

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J Child Psychol Psychiatry

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Archival Report
Shared and Distinct Intrinsic Functional Network Centrality in Autism and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder