2025-10-01 イェール大学
<関連情報>
- https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/brain-network-active-at-birth-linked-to-social-behavior-later-in-life/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266717432500151X
出生時の社会的知覚経路の機能的連結性は、生後4ヶ月での顔への注意と関連している Functional Connectivity in the Social Perception Pathway at Birth Is Linked to Attention to Faces at Four Months
Katarzyna Chawarska, Angelina Vernetti, Huili Sun, Michelle Hampson, Chenhao Li, Suzanne Macari, Kelly Powell, R. Todd Constable, Joseph Chang, Laura R. Ment, Dustin Scheinost
Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science Available online: 19 August 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsgos.2025.100597
Abstract
Background
The right-lateralized social perception pathway, including the superior temporal sulcus, supports processing of dynamic, multimodal facial cues, while the right-lateralized ventral pathway, including the fusiform gyrus, is involved in processing static facial features. However, little is known about the early development of these pathways or their links to later social outcomes. In this study, we examined intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) in these pathways in neonates with and without familial history of autism. We also investigated whether neonatal iFC was associated with reduced attention to faces at 4 months, an early autism biomarker.
Methods
iFC was measured in 310 full-term, typically developing neonates from the dHCP (Developing Human Connectome Project) at 41 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA) (SD = 1.7) and in 73 full-term Yale neonates with and without a family history of autism at 44 weeks PMA (SD = 1.3). Attention to faces was assessed at 4.1 months (SD = 0.3) via eye tracking in 37 Yale participants.
Results
All 4 pathways showed significant iFC (p < .001), with no sex differences (p > .159). Connectivity in the social pathway increased with age (p < .001). In Yale neonates, only iFC in the right social pathway was positively associated with attention to faces at 4 months (r37 = 0.456, p = .006). Greater attention to faces predicted fewer social concerns at 18 months (r33 = -0.358, p = .010).
Conclusions
The right-lateralized social perception pathway represents an area of interest for identifying early neural markers of social vulnerabilities associated with autism.
