Atypical network connectivity for imitation in autism spectrum disorder
Open accessAbstract
Imitation has been considered as one of the precursors for sociocommunicative development. Impairments of imitation in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) could be indicative of dysfunctional underlying neural processes. Neuroimaging studies have found reduced activation in areas associated with imitation, but a functional connectivity MRI network perspective of these regions in autism is unavailable. Functional and effective connectivity was examined in 14 male participants with ASD and 14 matched typically developing (TD) participants. We analyzed intrinsic, low-frequency blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) fluctuations of three regions in literature found to be associated with imitation (inferior frontal gyrus [IFG], inferior parietal lobule [IPL], superior temporal sulcus [STS]). Direct group comparisons did not show significantly reduced functional connectivity within the imitation network in ASD. Conversely, we observed greater connectivity with frontal regions, particularly superior frontal and anterior cingulate gyri, in the ASD compared to TD group. Structural equation modeling of effective connectivity revealed a significantly reduced effect of IPL on IFG together with an increased influence of a region in dorsal prefrontal cortex (dPFC) on IFG in the ASD group. Our results suggest atypical connectivity of the imitation network with an enhanced role of dPFC, which may relate to behavioral impairments.
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Reductions in white matter volume and hypoactivation of the pSTG during a Stroop task positively correlated with levels of autistic traits in typical adults.
“Recent work showed that reductions in white matter volume and hypoactivation of the pSTG during a Stroop task positively correlated with levels of autistic traits in TA (89).”
From Aberrant Striatal Functional Connectivity in Children with Autism (2011) · cites this paper as [89]
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References 137 · Cited by 120
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Chen G Glen DR Stein JL Meyer-Lindenberg AS Saad ZS Cox RW Model validation and automated search in fMRI path analysis: A fast open-source tool for structural equation modeling Hum Brain Mapp Conference 2007
- Authors
- Shih, P., Shen, M., Öttl, B., Keehn, B., Gaffrey, M. S., & Müller, R.-A.
- Affiliations
- San Diego State University (US)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- Corresponding author
- Müller, Ralph-Axel
- Venue
- Neuropsychologia
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-08
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 2931-2939
- ISSN
- 0028-3932 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3315839
- OpenAlex
- W2011556588
- Cited by
- 120
- References
- 137
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 7.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Neuropsychologia (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (R01-DC006155, R01-MH081023)
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communicative Disorders (NIDCD 1T32-DC007361-03)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, imitation, functional connectivity, effective connectivity, inferior frontal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, superior temporal sulcus, dorsal prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Brain, Brain Mapping, Child, Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Imitative Behavior, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Models, Neurological, Neural Pathways, Oxygen, Young Adult
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