title: Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review.
abstract: Ongoing debate exists within the resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) literature over how intrinsic connectivity is altered in the autistic brain, with reports of general over-connectivity, under-connectivity, and/or a combination of both. Classifying autism using brain connectivity is complicated by the heterogeneous nature of the condition, allowing for the possibility of widely variable connectivity patterns among individuals with the disorder. Further differences in reported results may be attributable to the age and sex of participants included, designs of the resting-state scan, and to the analysis technique used to evaluate the data. This review systematically examines the resting-state fMRI autism literature to date and compares studies in an attempt to draw overall conclusions that are presently challenging. We also propose future direction for rs-fMRI use to categorize individuals with autism spectrum disorder, serve as a possible diagnostic tool, and best utilize data-sharing initiatives.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI), The Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics (INI), Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, CA , USA.
authors.forename: Jocelyn V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Hull
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI), The Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics (INI), Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, CA , USA.
authors.forename: Lisa B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Dokovna
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI), The Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics (INI), Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, CA , USA.
authors.forename: Zachary J
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Jacokes
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI), The Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics (INI), Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, CA , USA.
authors.forename: Carinna M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Torgerson
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI), The Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics (INI), Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, CA , USA.
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Irimia
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI), The Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics (INI), Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, CA , USA.
authors.forename: John Darrell
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Van Horn
keywords: autism spectrum disorder; developmental brain imaging; fMRI; functional connectivity; neural networks; resting state