Functional connectivity abnormalities and associat

Authors: Jeffrey R Wozniak Bryon A Mueller Sarah N Mattson Claire D Coles Julie A Kable Kenneth L Jones Christopher J Boys Kelvin O Lim Edward P Riley Elizabeth R Sowell the CIFASD

Publish Date: 2016/10/12

Volume: 11, Issue: 5, Pages: 1432-1445

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Abstract

Consistent with welldocumented structural and microstructural abnormalities in prenatal alcohol exposure PAE recent studies suggest that functional connectivity FC may also be disrupted We evaluated wholebrain FC in a large multisite sample examined its cognitive correlates and explored its potential to objectively identify neurodevelopmental abnormality in individuals without definitive dysmorphic features Included were 75 children with PAE and 68 controls from four sites All participants had documented heavy prenatal alcohol exposure All underwent a formal evaluation of physical anomalies and dysmorphic facial features MRI data were collected using modified matched protocols on three platforms Siemens GE and Philips Restingstate FC was examined using wholebrain graph theory metrics to characterize each individual’s connectivity Although wholebrain FC metrics did not discriminate prenatallyexposed from unexposed overall atypical FC 1 standard deviation from the grand mean was significantly more common 27 times in the PAE group vs controls In a subset of 55 individuals PAE and controls whose dysmorphology examination could not definitively characterize them as either Fetal Alcohol Syndrome FAS or nonFAS atypical FC was seen in 27  of the PAE group but 0  of controls Across participants a 1  difference in local network efficiency was associated with a 36 point difference in global cognitive functioning Wholebrain FC metrics have potential to identify individuals with objective neurodevelopmental abnormalities from prenatal alcohol exposure When applied to individuals unable to be classified as FAS or nonFAS from dysmorphology alone these measures separate prenatallyexposed from nonexposed with high specificityThis work was performed in conjunction with the Collaborative Initiative on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders CIFASD which is funded by grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism NIAAA Additional information about CIFASD can be found at wwwcifasdorgThis study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism NIAAA The following support was utilized in this work NIAAA U01AA017122 PI ERS NIAAA U01AA14834 PI SNM U24AA014811 EPR U24AA014815 PI KLJ U24AA014818 PI Barnett support from the Minnesota Supercomputing InstituteAll procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study All procedures were reviewed and approved by local human subject’s protection programs This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors

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