ABSTRACT
Objective@#To identify the functional connectivity characteristics of insula, sensory and social related brain regions in boys with autism spectrum disorder(ASD), to explore the central nervous basis of sensory abnormality affecting core symptoms in boys with ASD.@*Methods@#Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs fMRI) data were collected from 34 boys with ASD and 29 typical development boys (TD group). Based on functional connectivity analysis, the sensory related brain regions, insula, and social related brain regions were taken as regions of interest to calculate the functional connectivity (FC) level between the regions of interest, the differences between the two groups were compared and the results were corrected by FDR. The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and Autism Spectrum Quotient-Children s Version (AQ-Child) were used to assess the core phenotypes of boys with ASD.@*Results@#Compared with the TD group, the levels of FC between tactile brain regions and insula, olfactory brain regions and insula, auditory brain regions and insula in boys with ASD group were significantly increased. The level of FC between the insula and bilateral amygdala，insula and the medial prefrontal cortex(mPFC) were significantly increased( P <0.05).Pearson correlation analysis showed that the level of FC between auditory brain region(BA42)and left insula in ASD group was negatively correlated with the scores of communication subscale of ADOS( r =-0.44)，social interaction subscale of ADOS( r =-0.43), communication & social interaction subscale of ADOS( r =-0.49),attention to details subscale of AQ-Child( r =-0.41). The level of FC between the right insula and right amygdala was positively correlated with the attention switch subscale of AQ-Child( r =0.38), the level of FC between right insula and mPFC was positively correlated with the scores of repetitive behavior subscale of ADOS( r =0.48), the attention switch subscale of AQ-Child( r =0.49), total scale subscale of AQ-Child( r =0.41), total scale of CARS( r =0.41)( P < 0.05 ).@*Conclusion@#The levels of FC between insula and sensory related, social related brain regions are abnormal in children with ASD, which have significant correlations with clinical symptoms. In depth studies can be conducted to explore underlying neutral mechanisms.