Abnormalities of EEG Functional Connectivity and Effective Connectivity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Xinling Geng, Xiwang Fan, Yiwen Zhong, Manuel F. Casanova, Estate M. Sokhadze, Xiaoli Li, Jiannan Kang
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder that interferes with normal brain development. Brain connectivity may serve as a biomarker for ASD in this respect. This study enrolled a total of 179 children aged 3-10 years (90 typically developed (TD) and 89 with ASD). We used a weighted phase lag index and a directed transfer function to investigate the functional and effective connectivity in children with ASD and TD. Our findings indicated that patients with ASD had local hyper-connectivity of brain regions in functional connectivity and simultaneous significant decrease in effective connectivity across hemispheres. These connectivity abnormalities may help to find biomarkers of ASD.