Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41987679›Full record

ArticleHuman brain mapping2026

Transdiagnostic Profiles of BOLD Signal Variability in Autism and Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: Associations With Cognition and Functioning.

Maria T Secara, Zara Khan, Ayesha Rashidi, Lindsay D Oliver, Ju-Chi Yu, George Foussias, Erin W Dickie, Peter Szatmari, Pushpal Desarkar, Meng-Chuan Lai and 6 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Human brain mapping, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Maria T SecaraCampbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5595-500X
Zara KhanIntegrated Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Ayesha RashidiCampbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Lindsay D OliverCampbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Ju-Chi YuCampbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6360-1861
George FoussiasCampbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Erin W DickieCampbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Peter SzatmariCampbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Pushpal DesarkarInstitute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Meng-Chuan LaiCampbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9593-5508
Giulia BaracchiniBrain and Mind Centre, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Anil K MalhotraDivision of Psychiatry Research, the Zucker Hillside Hospital, Division of Northwell Health, Glen Oaks, New York, USA.
Robert W BuchananMaryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Aristotle N VoineskosCampbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Stephanie H AmeisCampbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Colin HawcoCampbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Funding

Social Processes Initiative in Neurobiology of Autism-spectrum and Schizophrenia-spectrum Disorders(SPIN-ASD)R01MH114879 · NIMH · CENTRE FOR ADDICTION AND MENTAL HEALTH · PI AMEIS, STEPHANIE H · 2018 to 2021
$1.1M
NIMH NIH HHS 1/3R01MH102324-01NIMH NIH HHS 2/3R01MH102313-01NIMH NIH HHS 3/3R01MH102318-01NIMH NIH HHS R01MH114879
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (autism) and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (schizophrenia) exhibit overlapping social and neurocognitive impairment and considerable neurobiological heterogeneity. Blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal variability captures the brain's moment-to-moment fluctuations, offering a dynamic marker of neural flexibility that is sensitive to cognitive capacity. This study aimed to examine intra-regional BOLD signal variability during rest and task across schizophrenia, autism, and typically developing controls (TDC) to explore transdiagnostic patterns of brain signal variability and their relationship with cognitive and functional outcomes. Intra-regional BOLD variability, measured by mean squared successive difference (MSSD), was obtained from resting-state and empathic accuracy task fMRI in 176 SSD, 89 autism, and 149 TDC participants. ANCOVAs, controlling for age, sex, and motion, assessed group differences in intra-regional and network-level BOLD variability and dimensional associations with social cognition, neurocognition, social functioning, and symptom severity. Both autism and schizophrenia exhibited lower BOLD signal variability than TDC across rest and task, with reduced variability observed in somatomotor, visual, and auditory networks (pFDR < 0.01). Greater network variability was positively associated with better social cognitive, neurocognitive, and functional scores across the sample. Resting-state variability showed stronger group-based differences and cognitive associations than task-based variability. BOLD signal variability is positively associated with social cognition, neurocognition, and social functioning across groups, suggesting that variability impacts cognitive efficiency and behavior. Reduced variability in autism and schizophrenia may indicate similar patterns of neural rigidity among these related conditions, positioning BOLD variability as a potential biomarker for neural flexibility and a valuable target for future transdiagnostic clinical interventions.

Indexed as

Autism Spectrum DisorderEmpathyNerve NetSchizophreniaSocial CognitionSocial PerceptionAdolescentAdultFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleYoung AdultautismBOLD signal variabilityempathic accuracyheterogeneityneurocognitionresting stateschizophrenia spectrum disorderssocial cognition

Identifiers

PMID41987679
PMCPMC13084261

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.