Abstract #2250

Distortions in Dynamic Functional Connectivity in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Rajesh K Kana¹, Haley M Bednarz¹, D Rangaprakash^2,3, and Gopikrishna Deshpande^2,4,5

¹Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States, ²AU MRI Research Center, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States, ³Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁴Department of Psychology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States, ⁵Alabama Advanced Imaging Consortium, Auburn University and University of Alabama Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders that have been associated with disruptions in brain connectivity. Using resting-state fMRI, we assessed the variability of whole-brain connectivity in individuals with ASD. Using a variable, sliding-window technique to calculate the variance of dynamic functional connectivity (vDFC), we show increased vDFC in ASD as compared to typically developing controls among prefrontal regions and within the salience network. Measures of vDFC were significantly correlated with measures of social functioning among all subjects. This work is significant as it suggests increased neural noise and disorganization in ASD.

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