Females may present with autism more frequently than is diagnosed, due, in part, to autistic trait and sensory processing differences. Unfortunately, recruiting enough autistic female participants is difficult, because of such underdiagnoses. By approaching autism as a continuous variable, neurotypical (NT) individuals can be studied to better understand autistic individuals. Thus, to examine potential neurobiological underpinnings of sex-based behavioral profiles, we recruited 52 NT individuals (22 male; 30 female). Participants underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how functional network connectivity (via group independent components analysis) underpinned overall male/female differences in previously measured behavioral autistic trait and sensory processing questionnaire scores. Results showed that males' sensory processing and autistic trait patterns were correlated with sensorimotor and social brain areas while females' intolerance of uncertainty and autistic traits were correlated with areas implicated in sensory processing and anxiety. Additionally, both sexes exhibited a close relationship between sensory processing (e.g., auditory, higher order visual), social functioning (e.g., middle temporal gyrus), and empathizing (e.g., right temporal-parietal junction, fusiform gyrus), though the networks present within these correlations differed somewhat between the sexes. Systemizing was most strongly correlated with executive functioning and language processing areas in both sexes, with different brain networks showing greater significance in males than females. Overall, males and females displayed similar neurophysiological patterns involved in autistic traits, sensory processing, empathizing, and systemizing, though they seemed to activate these networks differently. Understanding these network differences in an autistic population may provide for sex-specific brain-based interventions for sensory processing, anxiety, and autistic trait manifestation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BGMYU2/oai:scholarsarchive.byu.edu:etd-11405 |
| Date | 07 May 2024 |
| Creators | McQuarrie, Miranda Jane |
| Publisher | BYU ScholarsArchive |
| Source Sets | Brigham Young University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/ |
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