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ArticleEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2025

Predicting pragmatic language abilities from brain structural MRI in preschool children with ASD by NBS-Predict.

Lu Qian, Ning Ding, Hui Fang, Ting Xiao, Bei Sun, HuiYun Gao, XiaoYan Ke

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Article in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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1citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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1 citing paper in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Lu QianChild Mental Health Research Center, Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Guangzhou Road 264#, Nanjing, 210029, China.
Ning DingChild Mental Health Research Center, Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Guangzhou Road 264#, Nanjing, 210029, China.
Hui FangChild Mental Health Research Center, Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Guangzhou Road 264#, Nanjing, 210029, China.
Ting XiaoChild Mental Health Research Center, Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Guangzhou Road 264#, Nanjing, 210029, China.
Bei SunChild Mental Health Research Center, Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Guangzhou Road 264#, Nanjing, 210029, China.
HuiYun GaoChild Mental Health Research Center, Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Guangzhou Road 264#, Nanjing, 210029, China.
XiaoYan KeChild Mental Health Research Center, Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Guangzhou Road 264#, Nanjing, 210029, China. kexiaoyan@njmu.edu.cn.

Funding

the National Key Research and Development Program of China 2016YFC1306200the National Natural Science Foundation of China 81771478the "Special disease cohort" Research Project of Nanjing Medical University NMUC2018010A
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Pragmatics plays a crucial role in effectively conveying messages across various social communication contexts. This aspect is frequently highlighted in the challenges experienced by children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Notably, there remains a paucity of research investigating how the structural connectome (SC) predicts pragmatic language abilities within this population. Using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and deterministic tractography, we constructed the whole-brain white matter structural network (WMSN) in a cohort comprising 92 children with ASD and 52 typically developing (TD) preschoolers, matched for age and gender. We employed network-based statistic (NBS)-Predict, a novel methodology that integrates machine learning (ML) with NBS, to identify dysconnected subnetworks associated with ASD, and then to predict pragmatic language abilities based on the SC derived from the whole-brain WMSN in the ASD group. Initially, NBS-Predict identified a subnetwork characterized by 42 reduced connections across 37 brain regions (p = 0.01), achieving a highest classification accuracy of 79.4% (95% CI: 0.791 ~ 0.796). The dysconnected regions were predominantly localized within the brain's frontotemporal and subcortical areas, with the right superior medial frontal gyrus (SFGmed.R) emerging as the region exhibiting the most extensive disconnection. Moreover, NBS-Predict demonstrated that the optimal correlation coefficient between the predicted pragmatic language scores and the actual measured scores was 0.220 (95% CI: 0.174 ~ 0.265). This analysis revealed a significant association between the pragmatic language abilities of the ASD cohort and the white matter connections linking the SFGmed.R with the bilateral anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG). In summary, our findings suggest that the subnetworks displaying the most significant abnormal connections were concentrated in the frontotemporal and subcortical regions among the ASD group. Furthermore, the observed abnormalities in the white matter connection pathways between the SFGmed.R and ACG may underlie the neurobiological basis for pragmatic language deficits in preschool children with ASD.

Indexed as

Autism Spectrum DisorderBrainConnectomeWhite MatterChild, PreschoolDiffusion Tensor ImagingFemaleHumansMachine LearningMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleAutism spectrum disorderMachine learningNBS-PredictPragmatic languageStructural connectome

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