Altered functional connectivity of the anterior insula in attention networks: Implications for female children with autism spectrum disorder Restricted; Files Only
Blair, Henry (Spring 2023)
Published
Abstract
Although the anterior insula has been investigated in autism spectrum disorder for some time, there are conflicting findings about its functional connectivity. This project looks at sex independently and examines the functional connectivity between the anterior insula and various regions within the salience network and ventral attention network. We use ROI-to-ROI analyses to assess functional connectivity between the AI and regions of these two networks. All scans were preprocessed in a standard fashion, allowing us to perform connectivity analyses. Results demonstrated that there are significant differences in connectivity patterns between these networks and the anterior insula in autistic children - particularly within the temporoparietal junction and supramarginal gyrus. The increased connectivity within autistic females and decreased connectivity in autistic males highlight the importance of factoring sex into analyses on autism and in research on other developmental conditions. The preliminary results correlating resting-state functional connectivity in autistic females to autism symptom scores provide an example of how resting-state connectivity between the AI and VAN regions can be useful for estimating a patient's behavioral symptoms or severity of autism.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Hypotheses 5
Methods 6
Table 1. Subject Assessment measures 7
Table 2. ROIs created for targets of VAN/SN 11
Table 3. MNI Coordinates for the ROIs 11
Results 14
Figure 1. Connectivity of the right AI in males 15
Figure 2. Connectivity of the left AI in males 15
Table 4. Altered connectivity in autistic males 16
Figure 3. Connectivity of the right AI in females 17
Figure 4. Connectivity of the left AI in females 18
Table 5. Altered connectivity in autistic females 18
Figure 5. Regions whose FC with the right AI varies according to sex 20
Figure 6. The difference between the effect of ASD in males and females 20
Figure 7. Difference in effect of ASD for the left AI in each sex (graph) 21
Figure 8. Difference in effect of ASD for the left AI in each sex (map) 21
Table 6. Summary of results in Figures 5-8 22
Table 7. Regression model between connectivity matricesand scores 23
Figure 9. SRS-2 Regression for (right AI → pSTG) matrix 24
Figure 10. SCQ Regression for (right AI → right pMTG) matrix 24
Figure 11. ADI-R Onset Total Score Regression for (right AI → right aSMG) matrix 25
Discussion 25
Conclusion 31
Supplementary Information 31
Bibliography 32
About this Honors Thesis
School | |
---|---|
Department | |
Degree | |
Submission | |
Language |
|
Research Field | |
关键词 | |
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor | |
Committee Members |
![Preview image embargoed](/assets/No_Preview-c99a369db0c8f31173bf3fdc06f581cabae85282e8a747dd66f99b731b54aec0.png)
Primary PDF
Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
File download under embargo until 19 May 2025 | 2023-04-17 17:05:00 -0400 | File download under embargo until 19 May 2025 |
Supplemental Files
Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
---|