Brain function in language and associated networks in non- or minimally verbal children
Por:
Montaña-Valverde, G, Linke, AC, Slusná, D, Muchart-Lopez J, Rodríguez-Fornells, A, Deco, G and Hinzen, W
Publicada:
1 ene 2026
Ahead of Print:
27 abr 2026
Resumen:
Language is universal in humans, develops robustly in infancy and is rarely absent entirely in aphasia following strokes. Non- or minimally verbal children, in whom language has not developed by school age in either production or comprehension, thus provide an unparalleled window into the human brain when language function is minimal. Yet insights from functional MRI are absent. Here we report results from a first study of intrinsic connectivity in nine non- or minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder scanned under sedation with propofol, along with eight typically developing children (scanned awake), using resting-state functional MRI. We targeted both functional connectivity and anatomically constrained, generative effective connectivity in speech and language regions, the insula and associated networks and the hippocampus. Identical analyses were applied to an independent resting-state MRI dataset of healthy adults scanned both under propofol and while awake, to evaluate sedation confounds. Non- or minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder, compared to their neurotypical peers, showed a widespread pattern of hypoconnectivity in auditory speech perception, fronto-temporal and semantic processing regions, which extended further to the insula and the hippocampus. Effective connectivity results selectively replicated these patterns, which correlated with Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule behavioural scores within the group of non- or minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder. This hypoconnectivity pattern extended neither to the adults scanned under propofol, nor to the visual cortex used as a control region in non- or minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder, supporting that this pattern of results is not explained by sedation. Together, this first evidence from intrinsic connectivity reveals a broad pattern of underconnectivity across key cognitive networks, which provides a neural correlate for the significant breakdown of language-related cognitive functions in this population.
Monta & ntilde;a-Valverde et al. present the first resting-state functional MRI study of both functional and effective connectivity in non- or minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder (nvASD). They report a widespread hypoconnectivity in speech, language and memory-related brain networks. These findings highlight a neural basis for severe language impairment in nvASD.
Filiaciones:
Montaña-Valverde, G:
Pompeu Fabra Univ, Dept Translat & Language Sci, Roc Boronat 138, Barcelona 08018, Spain
Pompeu Fabra Univ, Ctr Brain & Cognit, Dept Informat & Commun Technol, Computat Neurosci Grp, Barcelona 08018, Spain
Linke, AC:
San Diego State Univ, Dept Psychol, Brain Dev Imaging Labs, San Diego, CA 92182 USA
Slusná, D:
Pompeu Fabra Univ, Dept Translat & Language Sci, Roc Boronat 138, Barcelona 08018, Spain
Muchart-Lopez J:
Hosp St Joan Deu, Dept Neuroradiol, Barcelona 08950, Spain
Rodríguez-Fornells, A:
Bellvitge Biomed Res Inst, Cognit & Brain Plast Unit, Barcelona 08907, Spain
Univ Barcelona, Dept Cognit Dev & Educ Psychol, Barcelona 08035, Spain
Inst Catalana Recerca & Estudis Avancats, ICREA, Barcelona 08010, Spain
Deco, G:
Pompeu Fabra Univ, Ctr Brain & Cognit, Dept Informat & Commun Technol, Computat Neurosci Grp, Barcelona 08018, Spain
Inst Catalana Recerca & Estudis Avancats, ICREA, Barcelona 08010, Spain
Hinzen, W:
Pompeu Fabra Univ, Dept Translat & Language Sci, Roc Boronat 138, Barcelona 08018, Spain
Inst Catalana Recerca & Estudis Avancats, ICREA, Barcelona 08010, Spain
Green Submitted, gold
|