Multilevel Resting-State Dysfunctional Connectivity in People With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Autistic brains reliably show weaker resting wiring in day-dream and attention hubs.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Lin et al. (2025) pooled 26 resting-state fMRI studies. They asked: do people with autism show different brain wiring when they are simply resting?
The team focused on two key networks: the default-mode network (DMN) and the ventral attention network (VAN). These areas light up when we daydream or shift our focus.
What they found
Across all studies, autistic brains showed reliable under-connectivity in both networks. In plain words, the DMN and VAN talked to each other less than in non-autistic brains.
The pattern was consistent, even though each single study used slightly different scanners or rules.
How this fits with other research
The finding backs up Damarla et al. (2010), who first saw under-connectivity during a visuospatial task. Xinyun et al. now show the same weak wiring shows up while people do nothing at all.
It also extends Fitzgerald et al. (2015). That paper saw weak VAN and DAN links only when teens did an attention task. The new meta says the gap is there at rest, too.
Kotila et al. (2021) looked only at the posterior DMN and found odd timing, not strength. Xinyun et al. add that the whole DMN is simply less wired, giving a fuller picture.
Why it matters
You cannot see under-connectivity with your eyes, but you can plan around it. If a client zones out or struggles to shift attention, know the neural highway is already weak. Break tasks into smaller hops, use visual cues, and give extra wait time. These tiny supports ease the load on a network that is already running below full speed.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been linked to dysfunctional communication among brain regions and functional networks, as reflected by abnormal resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC). However, the consistent findings thus far have been elusive. To examine whether individuals with ASD show rsFC differently than healthy individuals at multiple seed levels, we performed a systematic analysis and meta-analysis at all prior seeds, functional network seeds, and single seed levels. This study was registered in the PROSPERO (registration number CRD42024559418). Publications were identified in PubMed, Embase, and PsycINFO from database inception until December 20, 2023. Publications were included that provided seed-based whole-brain rsFC contrasts between a sample with ASD and controls at rest. Seed and peak effect coordinates and intergroup effects were extracted for analysis. Random-effects meta-analysis was performed using the Seed-based d Mapping software. This study included 26 studies from 709 people with ASD and 705 controls. The frontal regions, right medial cingulate gyrus (MCG) (g = -0.51; 95% CI, -0.69 to -0.33) of the ventral attention network (VAN), and medial left superior frontal gyrus (g = -0.42; 95% CI, -0.60 to -0.24) of the DMN were the most robust peak clusters at all prior seeds, functional network seeds, and medial prefrontal cortex seed level respectively. The findings not only support DMN dysfunction in people with ASD but also provide the first evidence of meta-analysis to suggest VAN dysfunction in individuals with ASD.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2025 · doi:10.1002/aur.70128