ERIC Number: EJ1447762
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Dec
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0162-3257
EISSN: EISSN-1573-3432
Available Date: N/A
Decreased Functional and Structural Connectivity Is Associated with Core Symptom Improvement in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder after Mini-Basketball Training Program
Dongyue Zhou; Zhimei Liu; Guanyu Gong; Yunge Zhang; Lin Lin; Kelong Cai; Huashuai Xu; Fengyu Cong; Huanjie Li; Aiguo Chen
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, v54 n12 p4515-4528 2024
Exercise intervention has been proven helpful to ameliorate core symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. In this study, we carried out a 12-week mini-basketball training program (MBTP) on ASD children and examined the changes of brain functional and structural networks before and after exercise intervention. We applied individual-based method to construct functional network and structural morphological network, and investigated their alterations following MBTP as well as their associations with the change in core symptom. Structural MRI and resting-state functional MRI data were obtained from 58 ASD children aged 3-12 years (experiment group: n = 32, control group: n = 26). ASD children who received MBTP intervention showed several distinguishable alternations compared to the control without special intervention. These included decreased functional connectivity within the sensorimotor network (SM) and between SM and the salience network, decreased morphological connectivity strength in a cortical-cortical network centered on the left inferior temporal gyrus, and a subcortical--cortical network centered on the left caudate. Particularly, the aforementioned functional and structural changes induced by MBTP were associated with core symptoms of ASD. Our findings suggested that MBTP intervention could be an effective approach to improve core symptoms in ASD children, decrease connectivity in both structure and function networks, and may drive the brain change towards normal-like neuroanatomy.
Descriptors: Exercise, Intervention, Symptoms (Individual Disorders), Autism Spectrum Disorders, Team Sports, Children, Brain Hemisphere Functions, Program Effectiveness, Preadolescents
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A