Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by defects in social interaction. The past functional connectivity studies using resting-state fMRI have found both patterns of hypo-connectivity and hyper-connectivity in ASD and proposed the age as an important factor on functional connectivity disorders. However, this influence is not clearly characterized yet. Previous studies have often examined the functional connectivity disorders in particular brain regions in an age group or a mixture of age groups. The present study compares whole-brain within-connectivity and between-connectivity between ASD individuals and typically developing (TD) controls in three age groups including children (< 11 years), adolescents (11-18 years), and adults (> 18 years), each comprising 21 ASD individuals and 21 TD controls. The age groups were matched for age, Full IQ, and gender. Independent component analysis and dual regression were used to investigate within-connectivity. The full and partial correlations between ICs were used to investigate between-connectivity. Examination of the within-connectivity showed hyper-connectivity, especially in cerebellum and brainstem in ASD children but both hyper/hypo connectivity in adolescents and ASD adults. In ASD children, difference in the between-connectivity among default mode network (DMN), salience-executive network and fronto-parietal network were observed. There was also a negative correlation between DMN and temporal network. Full correlation comparison between ASD adolescents and TD individuals showed significant differences between cerebellum and DMN. Our results supported just the hyper-connectivity in childhood, but both hypo and hyper-connectivity after childhood and hypothesized that abnormal resting connections in ASD exist in the regions of the brain known to be involved in social cognition.
Keywords: Age; Autism spectrum disorder; Brain functional development; Functional connectivity; Independent component analysis; Resting state fMRI (rs-fMRI).