Potential dynamic regional brain biomarkers for early discrimination of autism and language development delay in toddlers

Shengjuan Wu; Zhi Wen; Wenzhong Yang; Chengcheng Jiang; Yurong Zhou; Zhiwei Zhao; Aiqin Zhou; Xinglian Liu; Xiaoyan Wang; Yue Wang; Hong Wang; Fuchun Lin

doi:10.3389/fnins.2022.1097244

Potential dynamic regional brain biomarkers for early discrimination of autism and language development delay in toddlers

Front Neurosci. 2023 Jan 9:16:1097244. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1097244. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Shengjuan Wu¹, Zhi Wen², Wenzhong Yang³, Chengcheng Jiang³, Yurong Zhou⁴, Zhiwei Zhao¹, Aiqin Zhou¹, Xinglian Liu¹, Xiaoyan Wang¹, Yue Wang¹, Hong Wang¹, Fuchun Lin⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Child Health Care, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
² Department of Radiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
³ Department of Radiology, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
⁴ Department of Radiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, National Center for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.

Abstract

Background: The early diagnosis of autism in children is particularly important. However, there is no obvious objective indices for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially in toddlers aged 1-3 years with language development delay (LDD). The early differential diagnosis of ASD is challenging.

Objective: To examine differences in the dynamic characteristics of regional neural activity in toddlers with ASD and LDD, and whether the differences can be used as an imaging biomarker for the early differential diagnosis of ASD and LDD.

Methods: Dynamic regional homogeneity (dReHo) and dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (dALFF) in 55 children with ASD and 31 with LDD, aged 1-3 years, were compared. The correlations between ASD symptoms and the values of dReHo/dALFF within regions showing significant between-group differences were analyzed in ASD group. We further assessed the accuracy of dynamic regional neural activity alterations to distinguish ASD from LDD using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

Results: Compared with the LDD group, the ASD group showed increased dReHo in the left cerebellum_8/Crust2 and right cerebellum_Crust2, and decreased dReHo in the right middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and post-central gyrus. Patients with ASD also exhibited decreased dALFF in the right middle temporal gyrus (MFG) and right precuneus. Moreover, the Childhood Autism Rating Scale score was negatively correlated with the dReHo of the left cerebellum_8/crust2 and right cerebellum_crust2. The dReHo value of the right MFG was negatively correlated with social self-help of the Autism Behavior Checklist score.

Conclusion: The pattern of resting-state regional neural activity variability was different between toddlers with ASD and those with LDD. Dynamic regional indices might be novel neuroimaging biomarkers that allow differentiation of ASD from LDD in toddlers.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation; dynamic regional homogeneity; early diagnosis; language development delay.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Hubei Provincial Top Medical Young Talents Project (No. 10200112027).