Abstract #0190

Mapping atypical functional connectome organization and hierarchy in autism spectrum disorders

Seok-Jun Hong^1,2, Reinder Vos De Wael¹, Richard A.I. Bethlehem³, Sara Lariviere¹, Casey Paquola¹, Sofie L. Valk⁴, Adriana Di Martino⁵, Daniel S. Margulies⁶, Michael P. Milham^2,7, Jonathan Smallwood⁸, and Boris C. Bernhardt¹

¹Multimodal Imaging and Connectome Analysis Lab, Montreal Neurological Institute, Montreal, Quebec, QC, Canada, ²Center for the Developing Brain, Child Mind Institute, New York, NY, United States, ³Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, ⁴Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany, ⁵Autism Center, Child Mind Institute, New York, NY, United States, ⁶Institut de Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Hôpital Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France, ⁷Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, New York, NY, United States, ⁸Department of Psychology, University of York, York, United Kingdom

One paradox of autism is the co-occurrence of deficits in sensory and higher-order socio-cognitive processing. The current work examined whether these phenotypical patterns may relate to abnormal macroscale hierarchy affecting both unimodal and transmodal networks. Combining connectome gradient and stepwise connectivity analysis based on task-free fMRI, we demonstrated atypical connectivity transitions between sensory and higher-order default mode regions in a large cohort of autism individuals. Supervised pattern learning revealed that hierarchical features predicted deficits in social cognition and low-level behavioral symptoms. Our findings provide new evidence for network imbalances in autism, offering a parsimonious reference to consolidate its diverse features.

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