TY  - JOUR
AU  - Hong, Seok-Jun
AU  - Vos de Wael, Reinder
AU  - Bethlehem, Richard A. I.
AU  - Lariviere, Sara
AU  - Paquola, Casey
AU  - Valk, Sofie L.
AU  - Milham, Michael P.
AU  - Di Martino, Adriana
AU  - Margulies, Daniel S.
AU  - Smallwood, Jonathan
AU  - Bernhardt, Boris C.
TI  - Atypical functional connectome hierarchy in autism
JO  - Nature Communications
VL  - 10
IS  - 1
SN  - 2041-1723
CY  - [London]
PB  - Nature Publishing Group UK
M1  - FZJ-2020-04612
SP  - 1022
PY  - 2019
AB  - One paradox of autism is the co-occurrence of deficits in sensory and higher-order socio-cognitive processing. Here, we examined whether these phenotypical patterns may relate to an overarching system-level imbalance-specifically a disruption in macroscale hierarchy affecting integration and segregation of unimodal and transmodal networks. Combining connectome gradient and stepwise connectivity analysis based on task-free functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we demonstrated atypical connectivity transitions between sensory and higher-order default mode regions in a large cohort of individuals with autism relative to typically-developing controls. Further analyses indicated that reduced differentiation related to perturbed stepwise connectivity from sensory towards transmodal areas, as well as atypical long-range rich-club connectivity. Supervised pattern learning revealed that hierarchical features predicted deficits in social cognition and low-level behavioral symptoms, but not communication-related symptoms. Our findings provide new evidence for imbalances in network hierarchy in autism, which offers a parsimonious reference frame to consolidate its diverse features.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - pmid:30833582
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000460125400004
DO  - DOI:10.1038/s41467-019-08944-1
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/888034
ER  -