Special report: Connectivity

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Is ‘underconnectivity’ in autism specific to frontal cortex?

Autism may result from reduced anatomical connectivity and functional connectivity between the frontal cortex and more posterior areas of the brain, say Marcel Adam Just and Timothy Keller.

By Marcel Adam Just, Timothy Keller
22 March 2013 | 8 min read

Mapping connectivity

A number of imaging tools are available to study connectivity in autism, each providing a slightly different picture of the disorder.

By Amedeo Tumolillo
22 March 2013 | 1 min read

How do we connect the dots of connectivity?

Growing evidence suggests that abnormal connectivity in the brain underlies autism, but conflicting interpretations persist about where and how the dysfunction occurs. How do we investigate the underlying mechanisms of this theory?

By Greg Boustead
22 March 2013 | 2 min read

Negative results

A number of studies have found no connectivity differences between people with autism and controls, but few have been published so far, says Dan Kennedy.

By Dan Kennedy
22 March 2013 | 4 min read

Local connections

To better understand how local connectivity is altered in autism, we first need to define what it means, says Tal Kenet.

By Tal Kenet
22 March 2013 | 4 min read

Connectivity challenges

Researchers should be cautious about interpreting the results of studies that rely on diffusion tensor imaging, says Carlo Pierpaoli.

By Carlo Pierpaoli
22 March 2013 | 4 min read

Fixing motion

New methods to deal with motion artifacts in brain imaging data are critically important, says Mike Tyszka.

By Mike Tyszka
22 March 2013 | 4 min read

Graph theory

Characterizing the brain’s network organization may help us understand autism, says Damien Fair.

By Damien Fair
22 March 2013 | 3 min read

Six questions for connectivity theory research

'Underconnectivity' is considered one of the best-supported theories for the neural basis of autism. But many questions remain unanswered, says Jon Brock.

By Jon Brock
22 March 2013 | 4 min read

Autism brains marked by weak local connections, study says

Connections between neighboring groups of brain cells are weaker in individuals with autism than in controls, according to a report published 14 January in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

By Virginia Hughes
21 February 2013 | 1 min read

From the archives

Researchers release first data from human connectome project

The first wave of data from the Human Connectome Project, a five-year $30 million effort to map the structure of the human brain, is now freely available, researchers announced at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.

By Emily Singer
17 October 2012 | 5 min read

Autism risk gene found to alter brain wiring

MET, a leading candidate gene for autism risk, influences the strength of connections between brain regions involved in social behaviors, and this effect is especially prominent in people with the disorder. The findings are from a large study using several imaging techniques, published 6 September in Neuron.

By Virginia Hughes
13 September 2012 | 7 min read

Studies of brain structure boost ‘connectivity theory’ of autism

The brains of people with autism have structural abnormalities that disrupt normal connections between brain regions and impede the flow of information across the brain. That's the conclusion of a 20-year-old theory supported by several new studies.

By Virginia Gewin
21 July 2009 | 8 min read

Perspective: Brain scans need a rethink

Head movement can bias brain imaging results, undermining a leading theory on the cause of autism, say Ben Deen and Kevin Pelphrey.

By Benjamin Deen, Kevin Pelphrey
6 December 2012 | 5 min read

Imaging studies question connectivity theory of autism

Three independent studies presented in May at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) in Toronto suggest that much of the brain in people with autism looks the same as that of controls.  The results contradict the so-called connectivity theory of autism, which holds that the brains of people with the disorder have weak long-range functional connections compared with controls.

By Emily Singer
11 June 2012 | 6 min read

Mapping whole-brain networks may untangle autism’s roots

Analyzing the organization of whole-brain structural networks could reveal differences in the way brains of children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders are wired.

By Emily Singer
23 January 2012 | 6 min read

Movement during brain scans may lead to spurious patterns

Head movements taint the results of many brain imaging studies, particularly those analyzing children or individuals with developmental disorders, according to two sobering new studies.

By Virginia Hughes
16 January 2012 | 6 min read

Cognition and behavior: Corpus callosum smaller in autism

Children with autism have a smaller corpus callosum, a bundle of nerve fibers that connects the two hemispheres of the brain, compared with controls, and this difference persists over two years of development, according to a study published 18 February in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

By Jessica Wright
4 April 2012 | 2 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

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Impaired molecular ‘chaperone’ accompanies multiple brain changes, conditions

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By Holly Barker
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