Frequency-specific age-related changes in the amplitude of spontaneous fluctuations in autism

Ting Mei; Zeng-Hui Ma; Yan-Qing Guo; Bin Lu; Qing-Jiu Cao; Xiao Chen; Liu Yang; Hui Wang; Xin-Zhou Tang; Zhao-Zheng Ji; Jing-Ran Liu; Ling-Zi Xu; Li-Qi Wang; Yu-Lu Yang; Xue Li; Chao-Gan Yan; Jing Liu

doi:10.21037/tp-21-412

Frequency-specific age-related changes in the amplitude of spontaneous fluctuations in autism

Transl Pediatr. 2022 Mar;11(3):349-358. doi: 10.21037/tp-21-412.

Authors

Ting Mei^#¹, Zeng-Hui Ma^#¹, Yan-Qing Guo^#¹, Bin Lu^{2

3}, Qing-Jiu Cao¹, Xiao Chen^{2

3}, Liu Yang¹, Hui Wang¹, Xin-Zhou Tang¹, Zhao-Zheng Ji¹, Jing-Ran Liu¹, Ling-Zi Xu¹, Li-Qi Wang¹, Yu-Lu Yang¹, Xue Li¹, Chao-Gan Yan^{2

3

4

5}, Jing Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Beijing, China.
² CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China.
³ Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁴ Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research Center, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁵ International Big-Data Research Center for Depression (IBRCD), Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by atypical developmental changes during brain maturation, but regional brain functional changes that occur with age and across different frequency bands are unknown. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore potential age and frequency band-related changes in the regional brain activities in autism.

Methods: A total of 65 participants who met the DSM-IV criteria for autistic disorder and 55 typically developed (TD) participants (both age 6-30 years) were recruited in the current study. The two groups were matched in age (t=-1.314, P=0.191) and gender (χ²=2.760, P=0.097). The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) was employed to explore the effect of development on spontaneous brain activity in individuals with autism and in TD participants across slow-5 (0.01-0.027 Hz), slow-4 (0.027-0.073 Hz), and slow-3 (0.073-0.1 Hz) frequency bands. The diagnosis-by-age interaction effect in the whole brain voxels in autism and TD groups was investigated.

Results: Autism individuals showed significantly higher ALFF in the dorsal striatum in childhood (Caudate cluster: t=3.626, P=0.001; Putamen cluster: t=2.839, P=0.007) and remarkably lower ALFF in the dorsal striatum in adulthood (Caudate cluster: t=-2.198, P=0.038; Putamen cluster: t=-2.314, P=0.030) relative to TD, while no significant differences were observed in adolescence (all P>0.05). In addition, abnormal ALFF amplitudes were specific to the slow-4 (0.027-0.073 Hz) frequency band in the clusters above.

Conclusions: The current study indicated abnormal development patterns in the spontaneous activity of the dorsal striatum in autism and highlighted the potential role of the slow-4 frequency band in the pathology of autism. Also, the potential brain mechanism of autism was revealed, suggesting that autism-related variations should be investigated in a specific frequency.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD); amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF); development; dorsal striatum; frequency band.