title: Mapping the Network of Neuropsychological Impairment in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Graph Theoretical Analysis.
abstract: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit social-communicative impairments. Less is known about the neuropsychological profile of ASD, although cognitive and neuropsychological deficits are evident. We modelled neuropsychological function in 20 children with ASD and 20 sex, age and IQ matched typically-developing controls (ages 7-14) as a network of interacting parameters. Graph theoretical analysis was applied to identify critical topographic regions within this network. Two areas were significantly stronger hubs in typically-developing children, the ability to shift attention (p < 0.001) and overall executive function (p < 0.001). Planning/organization was a stronger hub in the cognitive networks of children with ASD (p = 0.001). We show that ASD is not only characterized by impairments in various neurocognitive domains, but also alterations in their interaction.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Suite 1403, 555 University Ave, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada. george.m.ibrahim@gmail.com.
authors.forename: George M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Benjamin R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Vanessa M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Vogan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Rachel C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, Holland Bloodview Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Evdokia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Anagnostou
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.|Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Margot J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Taylor
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D057216:Propensity Score; D000067404:Social Communication Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology
keywords: ASD; Graph theory; Network analysis