Padrão de ativação cerebral em crianças com transtorno do espectro autista de alto e baixo desempenho cognitivo durante o processamento de imagens

Abstract

Background: Previous studies of brain function in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have involved subjects with high cognitive performance. Here, we aimed to investigate the potential differences in brain function in ASD subjects across the range of intellectual performance using a LORETA analysis of event-related potential (ERP) data. Results: We examined the differences in brain activation in subjects aged 7 to 14 years with an ASD diagnosis when processing visual stimuli. ASD children underwent an ERP procedure while viewing images of familiar or unfamiliar faces or objects on a computer screen during a visual cued reactivity task. Current densities of the fusiform gyrus (FG), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) were measured after stimuli exposure. Eighteen ASD children (mean age of 10.1 years ± 2.2 SD, 16 males) presented a mean FIQ (WISC-III) of 87.2 (± 24.6 SD), ranging from 46 to 137. The mean Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) score was 34.7 (± 2.2 SD).