TY - JOUR
T1 - Hypofunctional connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and ventromedial prefrontal cortex in autism
T2 - Evidence from coordinate-based imaging meta-analysis
AU - Lau, Way K.W.
AU - Leung, Mei Kei
AU - Zhang, Ruibin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors
PY - 2020/12/20
Y1 - 2020/12/20
N2 - Background: Underconnectivity in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) may be associated with a weakened ability to interpret social signals in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and result in cognitive inflexibility – a hallmark feature of ASD. However, previous neuroimaging studies using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging in ASD reported inconsistent findings on functional connectivity of the PCC. This study investigated the aberrant resting-state functional connectivity of the PCC in ASD using multilevel kernel density analysis. Methods: Online databases (MEDLINE/PubMed) were searched for PCC-based functional connectivity in ASD. Ten studies (501 subjects; 161 reported foci) met the inclusion criteria of this meta-analysis. Results: We found one consistent and strong abnormal functional connectivity of ASD during the resting state, which was the hypoconnectivity between the PCC and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC). Importantly, the Jackknife sensitivity analysis revealed that the VMPFC cluster was stably hypoconnected with the PCC in ASD (maximum spatial overlap rate: 100%). Conclusions: The reduced PCC–VMPFC functional coupling may provide an early insight into the effects of ASD on multiple dimensions of functioning, including higher-order cognitive and complex social functions.
AB - Background: Underconnectivity in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) may be associated with a weakened ability to interpret social signals in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and result in cognitive inflexibility – a hallmark feature of ASD. However, previous neuroimaging studies using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging in ASD reported inconsistent findings on functional connectivity of the PCC. This study investigated the aberrant resting-state functional connectivity of the PCC in ASD using multilevel kernel density analysis. Methods: Online databases (MEDLINE/PubMed) were searched for PCC-based functional connectivity in ASD. Ten studies (501 subjects; 161 reported foci) met the inclusion criteria of this meta-analysis. Results: We found one consistent and strong abnormal functional connectivity of ASD during the resting state, which was the hypoconnectivity between the PCC and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC). Importantly, the Jackknife sensitivity analysis revealed that the VMPFC cluster was stably hypoconnected with the PCC in ASD (maximum spatial overlap rate: 100%). Conclusions: The reduced PCC–VMPFC functional coupling may provide an early insight into the effects of ASD on multiple dimensions of functioning, including higher-order cognitive and complex social functions.
KW - Functional connectivity
KW - Meta-analysis
KW - Posterior cingulate gyrus
KW - Ventromedial prefrontal cortex
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085563088&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2020.109986
DO - 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2020.109986
M3 - Article
C2 - 32473190
AN - SCOPUS:85085563088
SN - 0278-5846
VL - 103
JO - Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
JF - Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
M1 - 109986
ER -