Brain Plasticity of Autism in Response to Early Behavioral Intervention: A Multimodal MRI Study

Overview

Autism is a well-recognized neurodevelopmental disorder severely affecting the health of children. While the unclear neurobiological basis of autism and the lack of effective medication, the most commonly used approach for treatment is behavioral intervention. However, the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the intervention therapy remains incompletely understood. The current project aims to explore the impacts of different early behavioral intervention methods on brain plasticity of autism using multimodal MRI technique and provide guidelines for the intervention and treatment of autism by evaluating the efficiency of these methods.

Study Type

  • Study Type: Interventional
  • Study Design
    • Allocation: Randomized
    • Intervention Model: Factorial Assignment
    • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
    • Masking: Triple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator)
  • Study Primary Completion Date: December 2024

Detailed Description

Autism is a well-recognized neurodevelopmental disorder severely affecting the health of children. While the unclear neurobiological basis of autism and the lack of effective medication, the most commonly used approach for treatment is behavioral intervention. However, the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the intervention therapy remains incompletely understood. The current project aims to explore the impacts of different early behavioral intervention methods on brain plasticity of autism using multimodal MRI technique and provide guidelines for the intervention and treatment of autism by evaluating the efficiency of these methods. Investigators collect participants' brain imaging data, eye movement data, stool samples and clinical scale score before and after intervention. Investigators first investigate longitudinal effect of behavioral intervention on brain structure and function in children with autism. In addition, investigators provide new biological indexes upon multimodal large-scale brain connectomes to evaluate the curative effect of intervention. Finally, investigators propose a prediction model of intervention effect based on multimodal multivariate pattern analysis methods. Furthermore, investigators expect to map the state-of-the-art biomarkers on multi-modal networks to provide a new interpretation of pathophysiological mechanisms of autism.

Interventions

  • Behavioral: Behavior modification
    • Each group has 30 subjects and experiences six months’ training.
  • Behavioral: Behavior modification and sensory integration training
    • Each group has 30 subjects and experiences six months’ training.
  • Behavioral: Behavior modification and applied behavioral analysis
    • Each group has 30 subjects and experiences six months’ training.
  • Behavioral: Behavior modification and TEACCH
    • Each group has 30 subjects and experiences six months’ training.

Arms, Groups and Cohorts

  • Experimental: Sensory Integration Training
    • Behavior modification and Sensory Integration Training
  • Experimental: applied behavioral analysis
    • Behavior modification and applied behavioral analysis.
  • Experimental: TEACCH
    • Behavior modification and TEACCH.
  • Other: Behavior modification
    • Behavior modification.
  • No Intervention: healthy control group
    • No intervention.

Clinical Trial Outcome Measures

Primary Measures

  • Brain structural and functional change under behavioral intervention at 6 months in children with autism
    • Time Frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year
    • Longitudinal effect of behavioral intervention on brain structure and function in children with autism will be assessed by Voxel-based morphometry analysis for structural changes, as well as Regional homogeneity, Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation, etc, for functional changes.

Secondary Measures

  • Prediction model of intervention effect based on multimodal multivariate pattern analysis methods
    • Time Frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year
    • First, classify autism individuals into effective treatment group and ineffective treatment group according to the intervention effect at 6 months. Second, conduct feature selection with Sparse optimization algorithms and cluster analysis on MRI data. Third, design optimized classifiers integrated support vector machines and Gaussian Naive Bayes classifiers.

Participating in This Clinical Trial

Inclusion Criteria

  • Age range from 2 to 8 years old. – Clinical DSM-IV diagnosis of autism. Exclusion Criteria:

  • Subjects with other neurodevelopmental diseases. – Subjects with contraindications to MRI.

Gender Eligibility: All

Minimum Age: 2 Years

Maximum Age: 8 Years

Are Healthy Volunteers Accepted: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Investigator Details

  • Lead Sponsor
    • University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
  • Provider of Information About this Clinical Study
    • Principal Investigator: Huafu Chen, professor – University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
  • Overall Official(s)
    • Huafu Chen, Principal Investigator, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
  • Overall Contact(s)
    • Huafu Chen, chenhf@uestc.edu.cn

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