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Special Report: Connectivity

The connectivity theory of autism, which is among the more popular hypotheses to explain the disorder, holds that the brains of people with autism have altered connectivity between different regions. For this special report, we commissioned a series of expert-written pieces to examine some of the seemingly contradictory ideas surrounding this hypothesis. Read the full introduction to the special report »

Viewpoint: Is 'underconnectivity' in autism specific to frontal cortex?
Autism may result from reduced anatomical connectivity and functional connectivity between the frontal cortex and more posterior areas of the brain, say Marcel Adam Just and Timothy Keller. Read more »

Slideshow: Mapping connectivity
A number of imaging tools are available to study connectivity in autism, each providing a slightly different picture of the disorder. View slideshow »

Guest blog: Negative results
A number of studies have found no connectivity differences between people with autism and controls, but few have been published so far, says Dan Kennedy. Read more »

Guest Blog: Local connections
To better understand how local connectivity is altered in autism, we first need to define what it means, says Tal Kenet. Read more »

Guest blog: Connectivity challenges
Researchers should be cautious about interpreting the results of studies that rely on diffusion tensor imaging, says Carlo Pierpaoli. Read more »

Guest blog: Fixing motion
New methods to deal with motion artifacts in brain imaging data are critically important, says Mike Tyszka. Read more »

Guest blog: Graph theory
Characterizing the brain's network organization may help us understand autism, says Damien Fair. Read more »

Connections: Six questions for connectivity theory research
'Underconnectivity' is considered one of the best-supported theories for the neural basis of autism. But many questions remain unanswered, says Jon Brock. Read more »

Autism brains marked by weak local connections, study says
Connections between neighboring groups of brain cells are weaker in individuals with autism than in controls, according to a report published 14 January in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read more »

How do we connect the dots of connectivity?
Growing evidence suggests that abnormal connectivity in the brain underlies autism, but conflicting interpretations persist about where and how the dysfunction occurs. How do we investigate the underlying mechanisms of this theory? Read more »

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Conference news Data released The first wave of data from the Human Connectome Project is now available to the research community. Read more »	News MET links The MET gene influences the strength of connections between brain regions involved in social behaviors. Read more »	News Broken links The brains of people with autism have abnormalities that disrupt connections between different regions. Read more »
Viewpoint Disrupted connectivity Head movement can bias brain imaging results, undermining a leading theory on the cause of autism. Read more »	News Out of sync Many toddlers with autism have weak connections between the two sides of the brain. Read more »	News Weak links New research suggests the pattern of brain connectivity in autism isn't as simple as underconnectivity. Read more »
News Brain networks Creating networks from brain imaging data could highlight connectivity problems in autism. Read more »	News Heady problem Head movements taint the results of many brain imaging studies, particularly those of children. Read more »	In Brief Brain development Children with autism have a small corpus callosum, the bundle of nerve fibers that connects the brain's hemispheres. Read more »