Altered white matter network topology is associated with more profound language impairment in children with autism spectrum disorder.
Overview
- Faculty of Life and Health Sciences, Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology, Shenzhen 518000, China
- Radiology Department, Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510530, China
- Department of Pediatrics, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510530, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Major Obstetric Diseases, Guangzhou 510530, China
- Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology, Guangzhou 510530, China
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Higher Education Laboratory of Maternal-Fetal Joint Medicine, Guangzhou 510530, China
- Guangdong Women and Children Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology, Guangzhou 511400, China
Abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit language deficits, yet the influence of varying language deficits on global white matter networks remains underexplored.
In this study, diffusion-weighted imaging data were collected from a cohort of Chinese children with ASD (n = 67, 54 boys) and typically developing (TD) children (n = 36, 23 boys) aged 20 to 93 months. K-means clustering divided the ASD sample into higher language (ASD-HL, n = 29) and lower language (ASD-LL, n = 38) subgroups. We examined topological properties of brain networks and compared global and nodal characteristics across ASD subgroups and TD children. Relationships between autism symptom severity, language abilities, and brain network characteristics were also assessed.
The ASD-LL subgroup showed reduced global efficiency (Eg), fewer hubs, decreased fiber connectivity, and fewer inter-hemispheric connections, compared to both ASD-HL and TD groups. Decreased Eg was associated with more severe autism symptoms in the ASD-LL subgroup, but not in the ASD-HL subgroup. Moderation analysis revealed that language ability significantly moderated the link between symptom severity and Eg: higher symptom severity was significantly associated with lower Eg in children with lower language ability, but not in those with higher language ability.
These findings suggest that language deficits contribute to alterations in white matter networks and may modulate the impact of autism symptoms on brain structural inefficiency in children with ASD. This study underscores the importance of targeting language skills in interventions and using language ability as a key stratification factor in ASD research.
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Code
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The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.
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Data
Datasets cited
- github.com/
yaqiongxiao/ — at github.com; found in “Data availability”asd.dti.network
Data availability
The tidy data used for the analyses reported in this article are available at https://
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Versions
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Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record
Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, pages, dates, 5 authors, 6 keywords, 13 MeSH terms, 1 funder, 66 references.
Cite
This paper
Su, C., Liu, Z., Zhang, S., Yi, A., & Xiao, Y. (2026). Altered white matter network topology is associated with more profound language impairment in children with autism spectrum disorder. NeuroImage. Clinical, 51, 104042. https://
BibTeX
@article{su2026altered,
author = {Su, Conghui and Liu, Zhaoran and Zhang, Shuiqun and Yi, Aiwen and Xiao, Yaqiong},
title = {{Altered white matter network topology is associated with more profound language impairment in children with autism spectrum disorder}},
journal = {NeuroImage. Clinical},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
volume = {51},
pages = {104042},
publisher = {Elsevier},
issn = {2213-1582},
doi = {10.1016/
url = {https://
pmid = {42537497},
pmcid = {PMC13452417}
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
AU - Su, Conghui
AU - Liu, Zhaoran
AU - Zhang, Shuiqun
AU - Yi, Aiwen
AU - Xiao, Yaqiong
TI - Altered white matter network topology is associated with more profound language impairment in children with autism spectrum disorder
T2 - NeuroImage. Clinical
J2 - Neuroimage Clin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/
VL - 51
SP - 104042
SN - 2213-1582
PB - Elsevier
DO - 10.1016/
UR - https://
LA - en
ER -
CSL-JSON
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