| Objective: To investigate the brain functional network characteristics of resting gamma band in children with autism spectrum disorder by magnetoencephalogram. Methods: Six children with autism and 9 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. The resting-state magnetoencephalogram signal and magnetic resonance data were collected, and the power spectral density analysis of the gamma bands signal in the cerebral cortex was performed at the signal source level, and the phase transfer entropy was calculated to construct the brain network for comparison between the ASD group and the control group. Results: In terms of the activation degree of brain network nodes, compared with the control group, the gamma-band activation degree was reduced in ASD children. The significantly inhibited brain regions (P<0.05) mainly distributed in bilateral frontal lobes, bilateral temporal lobes and bilateral insular lobes, with a small amount distributed in right limbic system and right parietal lobe. In terms of information flow between brain network nodes, there were differences in information receiving points between two groups. The ASD group consisted of the middle left angulargyrus, while the control group consisted of the middle right occipital gyrus and the left posterior lingualgyrus. In addition, there were also differences in information driving points between two groups. The ASD group consisted of the right anterior orbitofrontalgyrus, the right upper insulargyrus, and the left anterior fusiformgyrus, while the control group had no significant information distribution in the corebrain region. Conclusion: The activation degree of the resting state gamma band in the brains of autistic children is lower, suggesting that there is an excitation-inhibition imbalance in the brain of autistic children. In the gamma-band brain network of autistic children, the distribution pattern of the corebrain regions of information receiving and driving is different from that of the control group, resulting in an imbalance of information driving. |
