Mapping Resting-State Brain Functional Specialization to Neurotransmitter Profiles in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Researchers scanned the brains of 44 autistic individuals and 132 non-autistic people to understand brain differences. They found unusual brain activity patterns in areas controlling movement, vision, social understanding, and emotions. These patterns matched locations where brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) work differently in autism. One brain chemical called serotonin showed stronger connections to social difficulties - the more severe the social challenges, the stronger these brain chemical patterns appeared.

This neuroimaging study examined brain activity patterns and neurotransmitter distributions in 44 individuals with autism spectrum disorder compared to 132 typically developing controls. Using regional homogeneity analysis, researchers found abnormal brain activity in visuomotor networks, cerebro-cerebellar circuits, angular gyrus, and limbic areas in autism. These atypical patterns co-localized with multiple neurotransmitter systems including serotonergic, glutamatergic, GABAergic, dopaminergic, noradrenergic, cholinergic, and cannabinoid systems. Notably, serotonin receptor 5-HT2A co-localization strength negatively correlated with social awareness and communication scores, suggesting stronger associations with more severe social difficulties.

This represents the first systematic analysis of multiple neurotransmitter systems in autism, providing insights into neurobiological mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets.

This research provides neurobiological evidence for multiple neurotransmitter system involvement in autism, potentially guiding medication selection and development. The correlation between serotonin patterns and social difficulties suggests biomarkers for treatment response prediction and personalized intervention strategies targeting specific neurotransmitter pathways.

Moderate sample size of 44 autistic participants limits generalizability. Cross-sectional design prevents causal inferences. Study type not specified, and methodology details are limited in the abstract. Correlational findings require replication in larger samples.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder. However, its diagnosis and effective treatment present challenges. Understanding neurotransmitter impairments may offer new perspectives into the mechanisms underlying ASD and the potential therapeutic targets for this condition. This study aimed to investigate the spatial associations of ASD-related brain activity patterns and multiple specific neurotransmitter distributions to identify abnormal neurotransmitter alterations in patients with ASD, and to assess how these spatial associations relate to clinical features.

We included 44 patients with ASD and 132 typically developing controls (TDCs) and compared the regional homogeneity (ReHo) differences between the two groups. Associations between the spatial patterns of ReHo alterations and specific neurotransmitter receptor/transporter densities in patients with ASD were evaluated, and the correlations of these associations with the clinical characteristics were analyzed. In comparison with TDCs, patients with ASD exhibited specific brain activity abnormalities in the visuomotor network, cerebro-cerebellar circuits, angular gyrus, and limbic areas. These atypical brain activity patterns were significantly co-localized with the serotonergic, glutamatergic, GABAergic, dopaminergic, noradrenergic, cholinergic, and cannabinoid neurotransmitter systems in patients with ASD, and the results showed good reproducibility between different neurotransmitter maps.

Additionally, the awareness score in the Social Responsiveness Scale (ρ = -0.475, p = 0.009) and the social score in the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ρ = -0.415, p = 0.049) exhibited negative correlations with the strength of ReHo co-localization of serotonin 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor subtype 2a. This is the first systematic analysis of multiple neurotransmitter systems to show abnormalities in these systems in patients with ASD. These results will enhance the existing understanding of the mechanisms underlying ASD and may provide the foundation for identifying therapeutic targets.