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Original Articles
The abnormal topological properties of brain functional network in children with autism spectrum disorders based on graph theory analysis
LI Yushuang  AO Yawen  ZHAO Yilin  YANG Huaguang  ZHA Yunfei 

Cite this article as: Li YS, Ao YW, Zhao YL, et al. The abnormal topological properties of brain functional network in children with autism spectrum disorders based on graph theory analysis[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2022, 13(3): 37-42. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2022.03.008.


[Abstract] Objective To investigate the topological reorganization of brain functional networks in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children.Materials and Methods In this study, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange data (65 patients with ASD, 65 TD as controls) was applied to investigate the topological architecture of the brain network including global and local parameters using the graph theoretical analysis.Results Complex network analysis based on graph theory showed that children with ASD demonstrated shortened characteristic path length (Lp) and clustering coefficient (Cp) compared with TD group. Small world network properties were demonstrated in both ASD and TD groups with γ>1, λ≈1. No significant differences were found in neither γ nor λ. Significantly lower nodal efficiency was observed in bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, caudate nucleus, hippocampus and right inferior parietal lobule in ASD group compared with TD group.Conclusions Small-world architecture in brain functional networks was identified for both ASD and TD groups with a tendency to turn into random network. whatever, the ASD groups exhibit increased functional integration and decreased functional segregation of the brain functional networks. And the node efficiency of some brain regions was reduced. Our study provides a new perspective for exploring the pathogenesis and the clinical symptoms of ASD.
[Keywords] autism spectrum disorder;brain functional networks;graph theory analysis;resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging;topological architecture;small-world network property

LI Yushuang   AO Yawen   ZHAO Yilin   YANG Huaguang   ZHA Yunfei*  

Department of Radiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430060, China

Zha YF, E-mail: zhayunfei999@126.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2021-08-18
Accepted  2022-03-04
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2022.03.008
Cite this article as: Li YS, Ao YW, Zhao YL, et al. The abnormal topological properties of brain functional network in children with autism spectrum disorders based on graph theory analysis[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2022, 13(3): 37-42. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2022.03.008.

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