Cited by 234Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchFunctional Brain Connectivity StudiesGenetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Connectivity in Autism: A Review of MRI Connectivity Studies

Open access
Rane, Pallavi, Cochran, David, Hodge, Steven M., Haselgrove, Christian, Kennedy, David N., Frazier, Jean A.·2015·Harvard Review of Psychiatry

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects 1 in 50 children between the ages of 6 and 17 years. The etiology of ASD is not precisely known. ASD is an umbrella term, which includes both low- (IQ < 70) and high-functioning (IQ > 70) individuals. A better understanding of the disorder and how it manifests in individual subjects can lead to more effective intervention plans to fulfill the individual's treatment needs.Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive investigational tool that can be used to study the ways in which the brain develops or deviates from the typical developmental trajectory. MRI offers insights into the structure, function, and metabolism of the brain. In this article, we review published studies on brain connectivity changes in ASD using either resting state functional MRI or diffusion tensor imaging.The general findings of decreases in white matter integrity and in long-range neural coherence are well known in the ASD literature. Nevertheless, the detailed localization of these findings remains uncertain, and few studies link these changes in connectivity with the behavioral phenotype of the disorder. With the help of data sharing and large-scale analytic efforts, however, the field is advancing toward several convergent themes, including the reduced functional coherence of long-range intra-hemispheric cortico-cortical default mode circuitry, impaired inter-hemispheric regulation, and an associated, perhaps compensatory, increase in local and short-range cortico-subcortical coherence.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1097/hrp.0000000000000072

Cites

95 of 95 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Reduced FA in the dorsal cingulum is a frequent feature of ASD.

    “reduced FA in the dorsal cingulum is also a frequent feature of ASD (Rane et al., 2015; Shukla et al., 2011; Travers et al., 2012; but see Aoki et al., 2013; Table 2).”

    From The cingulum bundle: Anatomy, function, and dysfunction (2018) · cites this paper as Rane et al., 2015

    The Results (DTI; page unavailable) identify the cingulum among the commonly reported regions with reduced fractional anisotropy in ASD, and the Discussion (Diffusion Connectivity; page unavailable) says it was not far behind the most reported regions. Neither passage specifies the dorsal cingulum, so the source supports the frequency claim for the cingulum generally but not that anatomical qualifier. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Other ASD studies have failed to find clear cingulum correlations.

    “though other studies have failed to find clear cingulum correlations (Rane et al., 2015).”

    From The cingulum bundle: Anatomy, function, and dysfunction (2018) · cites this paper as Rane et al., 2015

    The Discussion (Synthesis; page unavailable) says connectivity changes have not yet been clearly correlated with behavioral findings, supporting the claim's general point. But the Results (Behavioral Findings; page unavailable) note a preponderance of reported behavioral correlations involving region pairs associated with the cingulum; the review does not specifically say that studies failed to find clear cingulum correlations. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • In ASD, there is a recurrent pattern of reduced FA and increased diffusivity, consistent with altered development.

    “Overall, there is a recurrent pattern of reduced FA and increased diffusivity, consistent with altered development (Ameis and Catani, 2015; Rane et al., 2015; Travers et al., 2012).”

    From The cingulum bundle: Anatomy, function, and dysfunction (2018) · cites this paper as Rane et al., 2015

  • Reduced frontal and posterior cingulate interconnectivity, as measured from resting state fMRI, is one of the most reported effects in ASD.

    “reduced frontal and posterior cingulate interconnectivity, as measured from resting state fMRI, is one the most reported effects (Rane et al., 2015)”

    From The cingulum bundle: Anatomy, function, and dysfunction (2018) · cites this paper as Rane et al., 2015

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 96 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Rane, P., Cochran, D., Hodge, S. M., Haselgrove, C., Kennedy, D. N., & Frazier, J. A.
Affiliations
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (US)
Corresponding author
Kennedy, David N.
Venue
Harvard Review of Psychiatry
Published
2015-07
Volume
23
Issue
4
Pages
223-244
ISSN
1067-3229 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2292351724
Cited by
234
References
96
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 3
FWCI
1.92
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Harvard Review of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network (American Medical Association) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH083320)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P30HD004147)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, brain connectivity, resting-state fMRI, diffusion tensor imaging, white matter integrity, default mode network, behavioral phenotypes, brain development
MeSH terms
Autism Spectrum Disorder, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, White Matter

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review