ArticleJournal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry2016
Functional Connectivity of the Amygdala Is Disrupted in Preschool-Aged Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Article in Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
64 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Presymptomatic Biological, Structural, and Functional Diagnostic Biomarkers of Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of neurochemistry · 2025Pooled it
- Meta-analytic connectivity perturbation analysis (MACPA): a new method for enhanced precision in fMRI connectivity analysis.Brain structure & function · 2024Pooled it
- Meta-analytic connectivity modelling of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in autism spectrum disorders.Brain imaging and behavior · 2023Pooled it
- Abnormal amygdala functional connectivity and deep learning classification in multifrequency bands in autism spectrum disorder: A multisite functional magnetic resonance imaging study.Human brain mapping · 2023Pooled it
- Overlapping and specific neural correlates for empathizing, affective mentalizing, and cognitive mentalizing: A coordinate-based meta-analytic study.Human brain mapping · 2021Pooled it
- Alterations in Early Alpha-band Connectivity emerge in Infancy among children later diagnosed with Autism.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Neonatal amygdala microstructure and structural connectivity are associated with autistic traits at 2 years of age.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Article
- Abnormal functional connectivity of dynamic brain network in toddlers with autism and its correlation with symptoms.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Alterations in Amygdala and Hippocampal Volumes in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Meta-analysis.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Understanding the developmental trajectory of behavioral problems and subcortical structure morphometry in healthy children at 6 years old and long-term impact of early nutrition: the COGNIS study.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2026Article
- Parental broad autism phenotype traits and executive function in families of children with autism spectrum disorder.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Article
- Associations between sleep problems, cortical morphometry, and structural brain network organization in preschool children with autism: a retrospective observational study.European journal of pediatrics · 2025Observational
- Language networks in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A systematic review of connectivity-based fMRI studies.Review journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- Abnormal Functional Connectivity of the Primary Sensory Network in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Sex Differences, Early Overdevelopment, and Clinical Significance.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Analysis of brain functional connectivity in children with autism spectrum disorder and sleep disorders: a fNIRS observational study.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Resting-State Functional Connectivity of the Amygdala in Autism: A Preregistered Large-Scale Study.The American journal of psychiatry · 2024Article
- Shared atypical spontaneous brain activity pattern in early onset schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders: evidence from cortical surface-based analysis.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Article
- Atypical functional connectivity between the amygdala and visual, salience regions in infants with genetic liability for autism.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2024Article
- Article
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe objective of this study was to determine whether functional connectivity of the amygdala is altered in preschool-age children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to assess the clinical relevance of observed alterations in amygdala connectivity.
methodA resting-state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging study of the amygdala (and a parallel study of primary visual cortex) was conducted in 72 boys (mean age 3.5 years; n = 43 with ASD; n = 29 age-matched controls).
resultsThe ASD group showed significantly weaker connectivity between the amygdala and several brain regions involved in social communication and repetitive behaviors, including bilateral medial prefrontal cortex, temporal lobes, and striatum (p < .05, corrected). Weaker connectivity between the amygdala and frontal and temporal lobes was significantly correlated with increased autism severity in the ASD group (p < .05). In a parallel analysis examining the functional connectivity of primary visual cortex, the ASD group showed significantly weaker connectivity between visual cortex and sensorimotor regions (p < .05, corrected). Weaker connectivity between visual cortex and sensorimotor regions was not correlated with core autism symptoms, but instead was correlated with increased sensory hypersensitivity in the visual/auditory domain (p < .05).
conclusionThese findings indicate that preschool-age children with ASD have disrupted functional connectivity between the amygdala and regions of the brain important for social communication and language, which might be clinically relevant because weaker connectivity was associated with increased autism severity. Moreover, although amygdala connectivity was associated with behavioral domains that are diagnostic of ASD, altered connectivity of primary visual cortex was related to sensory hypersensitivity.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.