Thalamic functional connectivity and sensorimotor processing in neurodevelopmental disorders
Year: 2023
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: One of the earliest neurobiological findings in autism has been the differences in the thalamocortical pathway connectivity, suggesting the vital role thalamus plays in human experience. The present functional MRI study investigated resting-state functional connectivity of the thalamus in 49 (autistic, ADHD, and neurotypical) young adults. All participants underwent structural MRI and eyes-open resting state functional MRI scans. After preprocessing the imaging data using Conn’s connectivity toolbox, a seed-based functional connectivity analysis was conducted using bilateral thalamus as primary seeds. Autistic participants showed stronger thalamic connectivity, relative to ADHD and neurotypical participants, between the right thalamus and right precentral gyrus, right pars opercularis-BA44, right postcentral gyrus, and the right superior parietal lobule (RSPL). Autistic participants also showed significantly increased connectivity between the left thalamus and the right precentral gyrus. Furthermore, regression analyses revealed a significant relationship between autistic traits and left thalamic-precentral connectivity (R 2 = 0.1113), as well as between autistic traits and right postcentral gyrus and RSPL connectivity (R 2 = 0.1204) in autistic participants compared to ADHD. These findings provide significant insights into the role of thalamus in coordinating neural information processing and its alterations in neurodevelopmental disorders.
Source: Frontiers in Neuroscience
Institutions: University of Alabama, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,295
Funder: Civitan International
OpenAlex ID: W4389788442