Identifying brain areas correlated with ADOS raw scores by studying altered dynamic functional connectivity patterns

Abstract

Altered functional connectivity patterns play an important role in explaining autism spectrum disorder related impairments. In order to examine such connectivity, resting state functional MRI is the most commonly used technique. To date, the majority of works in this area examine a whole time series of brain activation as a discrete stationary process. This study proposes a more detailed analysis of how functional connectivity fluctuates over time and how it is used to quantify instances demonstrating overconnectivity or underconnectivity. Non-parametric surrogates test identifies the areas where underconnectivity or overconnectivity correlate with the Autism Diagnosis Observation Schedule. In addition, this study shows how the areas identified affect the subjects behaviors. Our ultimate goal is a personalized autism diagnosis and treatment CAD system, where each subject impairments are distinctly mapped so they can be addressed with targeted treatments.

Keywords: ADOS; Autism; Dynamic functional connectivity; Personalized medicine; fMRI.