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• Clinical Article •
The differences between Asperger's syndrome and high functioning autism in brain network: A resting-state fMRI graph theory study
LUO Zhi  YUE Xipeng  GAO Zihan  WEI Wei  BAI Yan  WANG Meiyun 

Cite this article as: LUO Z, YUE X P, GAO Z H, et al. The differences between Asperger's syndrome and high functioning autism in brain network: A resting-state fMRI graph theory study[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2024, 15(7): 39-45. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2024.07.007.


[Abstract] Objective The debate about the differences between Asperger's syndrome (AS) and high functioning autism (HFA) has been ongoing for decades. Many previous studies have explored the differences between them from the perspective of cognitive psychology, but few studies have explored them from the perspective of functional brain imaging. In this study, we intend to use graph theory to explore the differences in brain function between these two diseases.Materials and Methods Imaging data from the American Autism Brain Imaging Exchange Database Ⅰ (ABIDEI) were used, including resting fMRI data from patients with AS (n=55) and HFA (n=53). The two groups of image data were preprocessed, and the brain network graph theory parameters of the two groups were calculated. The two sample t test was used to compare the brain network graph theory parameters between the two groups, and a post hoc test (Bonferroni's correction) was performed. Partial correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between graph theory indicators with significant differences and clinical data in the two groups.Results There were significant differences in the graph theory indexes of right superior temporal gyrus (P=0.016) and right middle frontal gyrus (P=0.044) between AS group and HFA group. These brain regions are involved in social, empathy, language and cognitive functions. In addition, nodal local efficiency (NLE) was negatively correlated with Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) score in AS group (left insula: r=-0.366, P=0.033; right insula: r=-0.412, P=0.016).Conclusions The results of this study may provide new ideas and insights into the brain function mechanism of different types of autism and help to reveal the specificity of diagnosis and treatment of different subtypes of autism.
[Keywords] autism spectrum disorder；high functioning autism；Asperger's syndrome；functional magnetic resonance imaging；magnetic resonance imaging；graph theory；brain network

LUO Zhi1, 2   YUE Xipeng1, 2   GAO Zihan1, 2   WEI Wei2   BAI Yan2   WANG Meiyun1, 2, 3*  

1 Department of Medical Imaging, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 463599, China

2 Department of Medical Imaging, Henan Province People's Hospital, Zhengzhou 463599, China

3 Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou 450046, China

Corresponding author: WANG M Y, E-mail: mywang@zzu.edu.cn

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2023-12-15
Accepted  2024-06-25
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2024.07.007
Cite this article as: LUO Z, YUE X P, GAO Z H, et al. The differences between Asperger's syndrome and high functioning autism in brain network: A resting-state fMRI graph theory study[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2024, 15(7): 39-45. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2024.07.007.

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