Functional Connectivity Associations with Anxiety in Children with and without ASD
Poster No:
353
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Peilun Song1, Ganquan Shi2, Hanlin Wu3, Xin Kang4, Gary Yu-Hin Lam3, Patrick Wong3, Yaping Wang5, Xiujuan Geng3
Institutions:
1The Chinese Univesrity of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, NA, 2The University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, 3The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, NA, 4Chongqing University, Chongqing, NA, 5Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
Studies have shown that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present with higher rates of anxiety (~ 42-79%) compared to that in typical developing children (~7%) (Kent & Simonoff, 2017). Only few studies, however, have investigated neural functional correlates with anxiety in children with ASD. Limited social communication (SC) skills among autistic children may lead to social rejection and subsequent anxiety (Wood & Gadow, 2010), while language deficits can also contribute to heightened anxiety (Asher & Gazelle, 1999). We therefore aim to investigate associations between autism, language and anxiety levels; and detect functional connectivity measures indexing possible neural mechanisms of anxiety in ASD children.
Methods:
Ninety Cantonese-speaking children (mean age=10.0, SD=1.3) were recruited from local mainstream schools (61 ASD, 29 controls). All participants were administered the ADOS-2 and Textual Comprehension subscale of the Hong Kong Cantonese Oral Language Assessment Scale (HKCOLAS-TC; T'sou et al, 2006). The Anxiety Scale for Children with ASD (ASC-ASD; Rodgers et al., 2016) and the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS; Spence, 1997, 1998) were also collected.
Fifty two subjects were scanned for MRI on a Siemens Magnetom Prisma scanner. T1-weighted MRI (voxel size=0.9 mm3) and resting state fMRI (TR=1s, multi-band AF=5, voxel size=2 mm3, # of volumes=360) were collected. FMRI data was preprocessed using DPABI. Subjects with total movement larger than 3mm were removed resulting a number of 37 subjects (26 ASD, 11 controls) included for brain analysis. The preprocessed time-course signals were then sent to construct ROI-based functional connectivity (FC) matrices, followed by the construction of within and pair-wise between 14 networks FCs based on Power264 (Power et al 2011). A total of 14 within and 91 between network FCs were estimated for statistical analyses.
The first set of analyses was conducted (n=90) to examine the associations between anxiety level (AL), ASD symptoms (AS), and language comprehension (LC). The structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test: higher AS, predicts poorer LC skills, which subsequently predicts heightened anxiety level; higher AS/SC also predicts higher AL. Then we further examined correlations between brain FC and behavioral measures using GLM, while controlling demographic information. FDR correction was performed for multiple comparisons.
Fifty two subjects were scanned for MRI on a Siemens Magnetom Prisma scanner. T1-weighted MRI (voxel size=0.9 mm3) and resting state fMRI (TR=1s, multi-band AF=5, voxel size=2 mm3, # of volumes=360) were collected. FMRI data was preprocessed using DPABI. Subjects with total movement larger than 3mm were removed resulting a number of 37 subjects (26 ASD, 11 controls) included for brain analysis. The preprocessed time-course signals were then sent to construct ROI-based functional connectivity (FC) matrices, followed by the construction of within and pair-wise between 14 networks FCs based on Power264 (Power et al 2011). A total of 14 within and 91 between network FCs were estimated for statistical analyses.
The first set of analyses was conducted (n=90) to examine the associations between anxiety level (AL), ASD symptoms (AS), and language comprehension (LC). The structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test: higher AS, predicts poorer LC skills, which subsequently predicts heightened anxiety level; higher AS/SC also predicts higher AL. Then we further examined correlations between brain FC and behavioral measures using GLM, while controlling demographic information. FDR correction was performed for multiple comparisons.
Results:
Behavioral results by SEM indiciate that models of autism severity and social communication deficits predicting language comprehension ability (LC) and anxiety levels measured by both ASD specific and standard anxiety measures (Fig. 1).
Anxiety measured both by ASC-ASD and SCAS showed significant positive correlations with FC between somatosensory-mouth (SSMN) and salience (SAN) networks (Fig.2). We did not see significant correlations between the total score of ADOS and FCs. When separating the total score into social affect (SA) and RRB, SA was negatively correlated with the FC between SSMN and SAN, while RRB was negatively correlated with the FC within somatosensory-hand (SSHN). Interesting, interaction effect of ADOS was found on the correlations between FCs and anxiety. Anxiety was positively correlated with the FC within ventral attention network (VAN) in children with low autistic levels, and negatively correlated with the VAN FC in children with more severe autistic levels.
Anxiety measured both by ASC-ASD and SCAS showed significant positive correlations with FC between somatosensory-mouth (SSMN) and salience (SAN) networks (Fig.2). We did not see significant correlations between the total score of ADOS and FCs. When separating the total score into social affect (SA) and RRB, SA was negatively correlated with the FC between SSMN and SAN, while RRB was negatively correlated with the FC within somatosensory-hand (SSHN). Interesting, interaction effect of ADOS was found on the correlations between FCs and anxiety. Anxiety was positively correlated with the FC within ventral attention network (VAN) in children with low autistic levels, and negatively correlated with the VAN FC in children with more severe autistic levels.
Conclusions:
Behavioral findings suggest that autistic features play a crucial role in influencing children's anxiety and language levels. Brain functional couplings between somatosensory and salience networks may correlate with anxiety levels in children with and without ASD. The severity of ASD may play an roll on altering the brain correlates with anxiety in ventral attention network. With increasing sample size, we aim to further investigate neuronal models indexing different types of anxiety in children with various autistic profiles.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Neurodevelopmental/ Early Life (eg. ADHD, autism) 1
Psychiatric (eg. Depression, Anxiety, Schizophrenia) 2
Keywords:
Anxiety
Autism
FUNCTIONAL MRI
Language
Other - functional connectivity
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
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Provide references using APA citation style.
Wood JJ, Gadow KD. Exploring the Nature and Function of Anxiety in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Clin Psychol Sci Pract. 2010;17(4):281–92.
Asher, S. R., & Gazelle, H. (1999). Loneliness, peer relations, and language disorder in childhood. Topics in Language Disorders.19(2), 16–33
Rodgers, J., Wigham, S., McConachie, H., Freeston, M., Honey, E., & Parr, J. R. (2016). Development of the anxiety scale for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASC-ASD). Autism research: official journal of the International Society for Autism Research. 9(11).
Power JD, Cohen AL, Nelson SM, Wig GS, Barnes KA, Church JA, Vogel AC, Laumann TO, Miezin FM, Schlaggar BL, Petersen SE. (2011) Functional network organization of the human brain. Neuron. 17;72(4):665-78.