A Study On Fairness And Resting State Regional Homogeneity Of Children And Adolescents With High-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder

?Objective? To explore the characteristics and related factors of fairness behavior of children and adolescents with HF-ASD,and to investigate the fairness related mechanism by resting-state f MRI.The study was divided into two parts.Study1: To explore the fairness characteristics of children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder(HF-ASD)and their correlations with different ‘brain type'.Study 2: To compare the differences of regional homogeneity in children and adolescent with or without autism spectrum disorder,and explore the correlation between regions of aberrant Re Ho values and fairness,and empathy/systemizing traits in HF-ASD group.?Methods? HF-ASD participants were recruited in outpatient clinic in Nanjing brain hospital affiliated to Nanjing Medical University and the TD participants were recruited from community and school.Study 1: Thirty children and adolescents aged 6-16 were enrolled in the HF-ASD group,and 39 typical development children who matched in age,gender,IQ with HF-ASD group were enrolled in the TD group.A mini ultimatum game(UG)was used to observe the characteristics of fairness.The Empathy Questionnaire-Systemizing Questionnaire(E/SC-Q)was used to estimate ‘brain types' in two groups.Furthermore,the relativity between fairness and ‘brain type' was analyzed by Pearson correlation analyses.Study 2: Thirty-nine children and adolescents aged 6-16 were involved in the HF-ASD group,and 47 typical development children who matched in age,gender,IQ with HF-ASD group were involved in the TD group.A mini ultimatum game(UG)and the E/SC-Q was used to estimate the characteristics of fairness and empathy/systemizing traits.Two groups of participants were scanned by f MRI,and Re Ho map of whole brain voxel was extracted.Then contrast the difference of the Re Ho values between two groups.Furthermore,we analyses the correlation between the aberrant Re Ho regions and the characteristics of fairness behavior,and empathy/systemizing traits in HF-ASD group.?Results? Study 1: 1.Compared with TD group,children and adolescents with HF-ASD were more likely to accept unfair offers(?2=17.513,P=0.025);HF-ASD reached lower empathy scores(?2=51.502,P=0.028)but higher systemizing scores(?2=64.144,P=0.039),the difference between groups is significant.The distribution of ‘brain type' in HF-ASD group was concentrated at Extreme S,otherwise in TD group it was concentrated at Type S,Type B and Type E,distribution difference between groups is significant(?2=42.446,P<0.001).2.In HF-ASD group,the acceptance rate of unfair offer was positively correlated with the discrepancy score(r=0.363,P=0.048),while there were no significant correlations in the TD group.In HF-ASD group,compared with Type S,acceptance rate of unfair offer was significant higher in Extreme S ‘brain type'(F=28.584,P<0.001).While dividing TD participants by ‘brain type',there was no significant difference in acceptance rate of unfair offer among various ‘brain type'(F=1.131,P=0.358).3.Stepwise regression revealed that Extreme S ‘brain type' can positively predicted acceptances rate of unfair offers in HF-ASD group(F(1,68)=8.695,P=0.001).Study 2: 1.Compared with the control group,HF-ASD group showed significantly decreased Re Ho in left angular,left supplementary motor area,left insula(all P<0.001,FDR corrected);and significantly increased Re Ho in right fusiform gyrus,right lingual,left lingual,left superior occipital gyrus(all P<0.001,FDR corrected).2.The Re Ho value in left insula was significantly positive correlated with the fair accept rate(r =0.529,P=0.042)and significantly negative correlated with the unfair acceptance rate(r=-0.539,P=0.038).?Conclusion? Our findings reveal that 1.Children and adolescents with HF-ASD were more likely to accept unfair.2.Children and adolescents whose systemizing developed more than empathizing preferred to accept unfairness.Extreme S brain type can positively be predicted the acceptance rate of unfair offers in HF-ASD.3.The study provided evidence for abnormalities of Re Ho in multiple regions in HF-ASD children and adolescents.4.The aberrant function in insular would play a critical role in abnormal fairness characteristics in HF-ASD children and adolescents.