Intrinsic Brain Connectivity Associated with Pragmatic Language Impairment in Children with Autism

Impairment in pragmatic language is one of the most noticeable symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Abnormal activity in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), a critical language area associated with pragmatic meaning processing, has been repeatedly reported in individuals with ASD. While brain areas are connected via networks, few studies have examined how the intrinsic network of IFG is connected atypically to other brain areas in ASD participants compared to typical controls. To elucidate the putative brain network underlying IFG, we compared the resting-state functional connectivity in ASD and typically developing children. A two-sample t-test based on 16 autistic and 16 typically developing children revealed that both LIFG and RIFG had aberrant functional connectivity. Specifically, compared to the typically developing children, the ASD group had lower pragmatic language performance and were associated with weaker connectivity between LIFG and inferior occipital gyrus (IOG), inferior frontal gyrus, opercular part (IFGoperc), middle frontal gyrus (MFG), and thalamus (THA), but increased functional connectivity between LIFG and cingulate gyrus (CG). Regarding RIFG, our study revealed reduced functional connectivity between RIFG and the fusiform (FFG), lingual gyrus (LING), pons, and cuneus (CUN), but increased functional connectivity between RIFG and the middle temporal gyrus (MTG). This altered brain network is closely linked to the classical network of Theory of mind (ToM) network, which provides a rationale for understanding pragmatic language impairment in autism. Based on the results of functional connectivity, this study discussed the possible reasons of pragmatic impairment in children with autism in the scope of ToM, and provided suggestions for the neural mechanism, clinical diagnosis and rehabilitation of children with autism who have pragmatic disorders.