Psychotropic medication use in autism spectrum disorders may affect functional brain connectivity

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Neuroscience
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Psychotropic medications are frequently prescribed for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) to manage comorbid conditions.
• Altering brain function, these medications' impact on brain connectivity in ASD is understudied.
• This oversight may contribute to inconsistent findings in autism neuroimaging research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if psychotropic medication status influences functional brain connectivity in children and adolescents with ASDs.
• To compare functional connectivity in medicated ASD, unmedicated ASD, and typically developing (TD) individuals.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess whole-brain functional connectivity in 49 children/adolescents with ASD and 50 matched TD participants.
• Participants were categorized into ASD with medication (ASD-on) and ASD without medication (ASD-none) groups.
• Key demographic and clinical variables, including age, IQ, head motion, and ASD symptom severity, were comparable across groups.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in functional connectivity were observed between ASD-on, ASD-none, and TD groups.
• The ASD-on group exhibited underconnectivity between the cerebellum and basal ganglia, alongside cortico-cortical overconnectivity compared to TD.
• The ASD-none group displayed pronounced cortical underconnectivity relative to the TD pattern.

Conclusions:

• Psychotropic medications appear to modulate functional brain connectivity in individuals with ASD.
• Medication status is a critical factor to consider in neuroimaging studies of autism spectrum disorders.
• Understanding these medication effects is crucial for interpreting brain function alterations in ASD.