Structure-function coupling in white matter uncovers the hypoconnectivity in autism spectrum disorder.
Peng Qing, Xiaodong Zhang, Qi Liu and 6 others
PMID 39367506WHAT IT FOUND
White matter tracts in autism show reduced coupling between structure and function.
This coupling predicts symptom severity better than structural scans alone, offering a potential biomarker for assessing social and repetitive behaviors.
Key findings
01Individuals with ASD showed significantly reduced structure-function coupling in white matter tracts, including the corpus callosum and cingulum, compared to typically developing controls.
02A model based on this structure-function coupling predicted ASD symptom severity (social affect and repetitive behaviors) more accurately than models using structural data alone.
03The predictive power of the structure-function coupling model held up in an independent test cohort of children with ASD.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The training dataset for predicting severity was small (76 individuals) because ADOS-2 scores were not available for all participants. There was a significant age difference between the discovery cohort and the test cohort, which may have introduced variability. The tensor model used has inherent limitations in regions where nerve fibers cross, potentially reducing reliability in those areas. Children in the test cohort were sedated for the MRI, unlike the discovery cohort, which could affect brain activity signals.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and provincial research projects in Sichuan. No specific commercial conflicts of interest were declared in the text provided.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret this as a diagnostic test ready for clinical use. The study identifies a neural pattern associated with symptom severity in a research setting, but it does not provide evidence that this imaging method can currently diagnose autism or guide therapy in a clinic.