Research On Gender Differences And Development Trajectories Of Brain Functional Connection In Autistic Patients

Autism Spectrum Disorders(ASD)are defined as pervasive developmental Disorders that are usually found in early childhood.People with ASD often have problems with social interaction and verbal communication,their behaviors are repetitive,and their interests are narrow.The proportion of men and women with ASD is about 4:1.With the development of brain imaging,some studies have found that the autistic brain regions activated abnormal network with brain abnormalities,but the complexity and heterogeneity of autism that these research results are still unable to form a unified conclusion,determine the causes of autism and clinical diagnostic biomarker of need multiple perspectives,multiple,more detailed research evidence.The sex ratio of ASD is remarkable.Some researchers have proposed the Extreme Male Brain Theory(EMB)to explain the symptoms of ASD from a gender perspective.Inspired by this EMB theory,this paper adopted the method of resting brain functional connection of ASD,combined with relevant diagnostic scales,to explore the gender difference and developmental trajectory of brain functional connection of autism patients.In this study,resting state Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange(ABIDE)dataset and related diagnostic scale Data were downloaded,and degree centrality(DC)method in resting state functional magnetic resonance Imaging(r-fmri)was used to calculate the functional connectivity intensity of Brain regions.The 2 x 2(ASD/HC(male/female)analysis of variance,2 x 3(ASD/HC * child/youth/adult)variance analysis and independent sample t-test in male patients with autism and healthy controls,such as statistical analysis,explore the autistic brain functional connectivity abnormalities,and explore the autistic brain function link of gender differences and autistic brain function trajectory with age.The results are shown below:(1)In comparison with the healthy controls,patients with autism in the corpus callosum(F= 25.23,p<0.01),the left side of the cerebellum(F=15.46,p<0.01),on the right side of the cerebellum(F=15.62,p<0.01),the left orbital frontal back in(F=15.11,p<0.01),the left fusiform gyrus(F=17.87,p<0.01),on the right side of the fusiform gyrus(F=16.56,p<0.01)exists abnormal function of the connection.DC values in the cerebellum(r2=0.190,p<0.01),orbitofrontal cortex(r2=0.169,p<0.05),and fusiform gyrus(r2=0.169,p < 0.05)were correlated with the autism diagnostic observation scale,suggesting that abnormalities in these brain regions were associatedwith the corresponding symptoms.(2)In autistic patients,the functional connection of the anterior central gyrus in male is significantly lower than that in female(t=-3.68,p < 0.01).(3)As the growth of the age,people with autism in the corpus callosum(F=30.48,p<0.01),the left side of the cerebellum(F=15.39,p<0.01),on the right side of the cerebellum(F=16.31,p<0.01),fusiform gyrus(F=30.48,p<0.01)and the orbitofrontal cortex(F=15.11,p<0.01)and healthy controls in corresponding regions development trend is the same,but the trajectory is slightly different,show the corresponding age brain the size of the average DC value plus or minus and significant differences,and adolescence autistic precuneus(t=3.79,P<0.01)there was a specific decrease in functional connectivity.Conclusions of this study are as follows:(1)There are abnormal functional connections between the cerebellum,corpus callosum,fusiform gyrus and orbitofrontal cortex in autistic patients.Abnormal cerebellum,fusiform gyrus and orbitofrontal cortex may be part of the reason for social and communication disorders in autistic patients,while abnormal corpus callosum may affect the interhemispheric connections in autistic patients.(2)There are gender differences in the abnormal functional connections of brain regions in autistic patients.Compared with female autistic patients,the abnormal central anterior gyrus in male autistic patients may be the reason for their more externalized symptoms.The decrease of the central anterior gyrus function connection in male autistic patients may be the reason why their empathy ability is lower than that in female autistic patients,which is consistent with the hypothesis of EMB theory.(3)The development trend of abnormal brain functional connections in autistic patients is similar to that in normal people,but the development trajectory is different.Abnormal functional connections mainly occur in childhood and adolescence.Moreover,the precuneus of the adolescent autism group showed specific abnormalities.