Table 2.
Summary of fMRI studies
| Author(s) (year) | ASD sample | NT sample | Paradigm | Measure | Stimuli | Duration (s) | Contrast | Areas of activation | WoE | SQA | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | Age | Sex ratio | FSIQ | NVIQ | N | Age | Sex ratio | FSIQ | NVIQ | Task | Groups | ||||||||
| Alaerts et al. [71] | 15 | 21.7 | 15/0 | 107.9 | 105.6 | 15 | 23.3 | 15/0 | 114.8 | 109.1 | ER | WB | PLD (12 points) | 3s | EM>fix | NT>ASD | L IPL, R MTG-pSTS, L MOG, L MTG-pSTS | 8 | 0.7▲▲ |
| Alaerts et al. [30] | 15 | 21.7 | 15/0 | 107.9 | 105.6 | 15 | 23.3 | 15/0 | 114.8 | 109.1 | ER/D | WB | PLD (12 points) | 4s | EM>fix | NT>ASD and ASD>NT | None | 8.5 | 0.79▲▲ |
| Bjorndotter et al. [72] | 37 | boys: 11.45 girls: 10.73 | 27/10 | boys: 91.33 girls: 98.8 | / | 38 | boys: 11.52 girls: 11.51 | 25/13 | boys: 105.46 girls: 93.85 | / | PV | WB | PLD (16 points) | 24s | BM>SCR | NT>ASD | R FFG, L FFG, L MTG, L IFG, L Cerebellum | 8.5 | 0.8▲ |
| Freitag et al. [31] | 15 | 17.5 | 13/2 | 101.2 | 93.3 | 15 | 18.6 | 13/2 | 112.1 | 106.8 | D | WB | PLD (15 points) | 1.5s | BM>SCR | NT>ASD | R Calcarine sulcus, R Parieto-occipital sulcus, R Central sulcus/Postcental gyrus, R Postcentral gyrus/ Postcentral sulcus, R Postcentral sulcus/ IPL, R IPL, R MTG/STS, R Insula, R ACG, R MedFG, R MFG, L Central sulcus/ postcentral gyrus, L IPL, L FFG, L STG, L Claustrum, L ACG | 8.5 | 0.81▲▲ |
| Grezes et al. [32] | 12 | 26.6 | 10/2 | 102 | / | 12 | 21 | 12/0 | 119 | / | AR/ER | WB | FLD | 3s | Dynamic (fear & neutral) vs Static | NT>ASD | R TPJ/STG, R ITG (MT), L ITG, R medSFG, R STG (middle part), R Precentral gyrus, L IFG, R Precaneus, R MFG, R ITG (MT), R FFG/ Cerebellum | 9 | 0.85▲ |
| Jack et al. [73] | 15 | 14.2 | 13/2 | 110.53 | 110.33 | 15 | 13.8 | 11/4 | 112.27 | 107.6 | PV | WB | FLD | 7-9s | Hand vs baseline | ASD>NT | R Transverse Temporal Gyrus, L Superior Temporal Gyrus, L Precaneus, R Anterior Cingulate, L Cingulate Gyrus | 9 | 0.9▲ |
| Jack et al. [74] | 35 | 14.49 | 27/8 | 97.6 | 62 | 17.3 | 26/36 | 101.61 | PV | Cerebellum | PLD (15 points) | 24s | BM>SCR | NT>ASD and ASD>NT | None | 8 | 0.78▲ | ||
| Kaiser et al. [75] | 25 | 11.8 | 20/5 | 100.2 | 98.2 | NT: 17 US: 20 | NT: 10.9 US: 11.3 | NT: 12/5 US: 9:11 | NT: 114.1 US: 115.8 | NT: 110.1 US: 113. 8 | PV | WB | PLD (16 points) | ~24s | BM>SCR | NT>ASD | L vlPC, vmPC, R PTS, R Amygdala, R FFG, L FFG | 8.5 | 0.75▲ |
| Koldewyn et al. [57] | 16 | 15.4 | 14/2 | 110.6 | 106.7 | 16 | 15.6 | 14/2 | 118.6 | 112.6 | D | WB | PLD (13 points) | 2s | BM>COH | NT>ASD | R Insula,, Bilateral Caudate, Bilateral Pulvinar; R Intraparietal sulcus, R AG, R STS; R IFS, R MFG, R IFG; L Intraparietal Sulcus, L AG, L STS; Anterior Cingulate Sulcus and Gyrus. | 8.5 | 0.84▲▲ |
| ASD>NT | R ITG/IOG (2 clusters) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Marsh et al. [76] | 18 | 33 | / | 110.22 | 104.4 | 19 | 32.2 | / | 113.89 | 113.4 | PV | WB | FLD | 24s | Hands>shapes | NT>ASD | L Middle Cingulate extending to Supplementary Motor Area, L Fusiform/Lingual Gyrus | 8 | 0.73▲ |
| Yang et al. [77] | 31 | 10.86 | 31/0 | 98.1 | 96.65 | 17 | 10.92 | 17/0 | 104.1 | 103.7 | PV | WB | PLD (16 points) | ~24s | BM>SCR | NT>ASD | R AG, R FFG, R Hippocampus, R IOG, R MOG, R IPG, R ITG, R MTG | 8 | 0.9▲ |
N sample size, FSIQ full-scale IQ, NVIQ non-verbal IQ, AR action recognition, D BM detection, ER emotion recognition, PV passive viewing, WB whole brain analysis, FLD full-light display, SCR scrambled BM, COH coherent dot motion, PLD point-light display, WoE weight of evidence, SQA standard quality assessment score, L left, R right, IPL inferior parietal lobule, AG angular gyrus, FFG fusiform gyrus, IOG inferior occipital gyrus, MOG middle occipital gyrus, ITG inferior temporal gyrus, MTG middle temporal gyrus, (p)STS (posterior) superior temporal sulcus, (med)SFG (medial)superior frontal gyrus, IFG inferior frontal gyrus, MFG middle frontal gyrus, vlPC ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, PTS posterior temporal sulcus, vmPC ventromedial prefrontal cortex, TPJ temporo-parietal junction, STG superior temporal gyrus, ACG anterior cingulate gyrus, ▲▲ score represents the total score obtained from the behavioural quality assessment plus a score given for the fRMI protocol, ▲ score represents the relevant questions from the quality assessment measure + a score for the fMRI protocol