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Updated: May 6, 2026
Probing the Brain in Autism Using fMRI and Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Published on: September 12, 2011
Local functional overconnectivity in posterior brain regions is associated with symptom severity in autism spectrum
Christopher Lee Keown1, Patricia Shih, Aarti Nair
1Brain Development Imaging Laboratory, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92120, USA; Computational Science Research Center, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA.
Abstract:
Although growing evidence indicates atypical long-distance connectivity in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), much less is known about local connectivity, despite conjectures that local overconnectivity may be causally involved in the disorder. Using functional connectivity MRI and graph theory, we found that local functional connectivity was atypically increased in adolescents with ASD in temporo-occipital regions bilaterally. Posterior overconnectivity was found to be associated with higher ASD symptom severity, whereas an ASD subsample with low severity showed frontal underconnectivity. The findings suggest links between symptomatology and local connectivity, which vary within the autism spectrum.
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