New research indicates children with autism show reduced activation and coordination in key prefrontal regions during language tasks, offering insights into core cognitive challenges.
A new Frontiers in Psychiatry study suggests that children with autism spectrum disorder show weaker activity and poorer coordination in key prefrontal brain regions during a verbal fluency task than children with intellectual disability matched for overall IQ. The findings point to differences in brain network function that may help explain why some children with autism struggle with phonemic fluency and executive control even when general cognitive ability is similar.
Researchers assessed 33 children with autism and 21 children with intellectual disability, all with a full-scale IQ below 70, while they completed a standard language task designed to measure how quickly they can generate words. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, a non-invasive technique that tracks changes in blood oxygenation at the surface of the brain, the team focused on oxygenated haemoglobin levels in the prefrontal cortex, an area involved in planning, attention and self-control.
The study found lower activation in the autism group in prefrontal channels linked to the right inferior frontal gyrus, a region often associated with language production and executive function. It also reported weaker functional connectivity, meaning less coordinated activity between brain regions, in the autism group than in the intellectually disabled comparison group. In addition, lower prefrontal activation was linked with higher scores on the Childhood Autism Rating Scale, suggesting that more severe symptoms were associated with greater disruption in these brain responses.
The result fits with earlier fNIRS and MRI research indicating that autism is often associated with altered connectivity rather than simply reduced ability in a single brain region. A related Frontiers in Human Neuroscience paper also reported reduced prefrontal activation and connectivity in children with autism during verbal fluency tasks, while PubMed-listed work found similar differences in high-functioning autism compared with typically developing children. Taken together, the studies add to evidence that coordination across brain networks, particularly in the inferior frontal gyrus, may be central to language and executive difficulties in autism.
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