Inter-individual heterogeneity of functional brain networks in children with autism spectrum disorder.
Xiaonan Guo, Guangjin Zhai, Junfeng Liu and 4 others
PMID 36572935WHAT IT FOUND
Children with autism split into two brain-network subtypes: one with lower connectivity, one with higher.
Each subtype’s deviation from typical controls predicted different symptoms. The lower-connectivity group matched communication scores; the higher-connectivity group matched repetitive behaviour scores.
Key findings
01Clustering based on how each child’s brain connectivity deviated from typical controls identified two autism subtypes with opposite connectivity patterns relative to controls.
02The subtype with lower connectivity showed a significant relationship between brain-network deviation and ADOS communication scores, but not with other symptom subscores.
03The subtype with higher connectivity showed a significant relationship between brain-network deviation and ADOS stereotypic behaviour scores, but not with other symptom subscores.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
Only male children aged 7 to 12 were included, so the findings do not apply to females or to other developmental stages. The study is cross-sectional and uses a single resting-state scan, so it cannot show how these brain patterns change over time. The analysis relies on a specific clustering method and a single deviation metric; the subtypes are not stable clinical categories. The correlation coefficients are modest (r = 0.38 and r = 0.48), meaning the brain scores explain only a small part of symptom variation. No clinical outcomes or treatment responses were measured, so the link to therapy is indirect.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province, a Hebei Key Laboratory Project, the Funding Project for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars of Hebei Province of China, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. No commercial conflicts are reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the two brain subtypes as established clinical categories that can guide diagnosis or therapy. The subtypes were found by a specific clustering method on group-level data, the two subtypes did not differ on ADOS scores, and the study did not test whether these patterns predict treatment response or function in daily life.