Habenula alterations in resting state functional connectivity among autistic individuals

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Neuroscience
• Psychiatry

Background:

• The reward-based framework of autism suggests altered reward circuitry contributes to core symptoms.
• Previous research identified structural changes in the habenula, a key brain region for motivation and emotion, in autism.
• Functional connectivity (FC) alterations in the habenula within autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate resting-state functional connectivity (FC) alterations in the habenula in individuals with autism.
• To explore age-related changes and brain-behavior interactions in habenula FC within the autism population.

Main Methods:

• Utilized resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data from 1,584 participants (705 with autism) from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE).
• Conducted whole-brain resting-state FC analysis focused on the habenula.
• Performed regression analyses to examine age and brain-behavior relationships.

Main Results:

• Autistic individuals showed significantly increased habenula FC with the right middle temporal gyrus and bilateral superior temporal gyri compared to neurotypical controls.
• Habenula FC increased with age in autistic adolescents but decreased in neurotypical individuals, involving the left culmen and left parahippocampus.
• Habenula hyperconnectivity was inversely associated with social motivation, executive functioning, and daily living skills, but not social communication.

Conclusions:

• This study provides novel evidence of atypical habenula functional connectivity in autism, particularly with auditory cortical regions.
• Findings suggest distinct developmental trajectories of habenula circuitry in autistic adolescents, linking hyperconnectivity to motivation and adaptive behaviors.
• These results underscore the potential critical role of the dopaminergic reward system in the pathophysiology of autism.