Editorial: Mapping the Miswired Connectome in Autism Spectrum Disorder

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2020 Mar;59(3):348-349. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2020.01.001. Epub 2020 Jan 9.

Abstract

Unraveling the altered brain-behavior relationships in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been challenging because of the limitations of sample size and methodologies that are still evolving. Recently, pediatric neuroimaging has undergone considerable advancement by harnessing resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rfMRI),1 in which methodologies can be applied to quantify functional connectivity (FC) from spontaneous fluctuations of brain activity. Benefiting from relatively easy data collection from clinical samples and the ability to harmonize these samples, rfMRI has supported the emergence of open pediatric neuroimaging science (OPENS) through the pooling and sharing of large-scale neuroimaging data by and for the research community (eg, the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange [ABIDE]2,3). Big data OPENS ASD studies have revealed functional impairments in both sensory and cognitive brain networks. However, whether these impairments reflect a miswired connectome of network interplay in ASD remains to be elucidated.

Publication types

  • Editorial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Comment

MeSH terms

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder* / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain Mapping
  • Child
  • Cognition
  • Connectome*
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Neural Pathways / diagnostic imaging
  • Systems Integration