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Aberrant Functional Connectivity Dynamics of Superior Temporal Sulcus and Its Associations with GABA Genes Expression in Autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with functional coordination disturbances among brain regions. Genetic studies implicated that dysfunctional gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system may play an important role in autism etiology. Based on previous reported static functional connectivity abnormalities of the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) in ASD, the current study aimed to explore the dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) variability of the pSTS in ASD and its associations with GABA receptor genes expression. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data obtained from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange repository were analyzed in 209 males with ASD and 298 demographically-matched control males. For each subject, dFC maps of the bilateral pSTS were constructed through Flexible Least Squares strategy, and the variance of the dFC time series at each voxel was further calculated to quantify the temporal variability. Finally, gene expression decoding analysis was performed using NeuroVault to associate the dFC variability abnormalities with expression data of the GABA receptor genes. Compared with typical controls, individuals with ASD showed increased dFC variability between the left pSTS and right temporal regions, including the middle temporal gyrus and fusiform gyrus. In addition, decreased dFC variability was found between the right pSTS and bilateral posterior cingulate cortex in ASD. Gene expression decoding result showed that aberrant dFC variability patterns of the bilateral pSTS were related to GABA receptor genes expression. These findings suggest abnormal dFC variability of the pSTS in ASD and implicate the potential links between these connectivity abnormalities and GABA genes expression.