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

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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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.

Detailed Description
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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 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.

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

Conditions
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Autism

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Behavior modification
* Behavioral: Behavior modification and sensory integration training
* Behavioral: Behavior modification and applied behavioral analysis
* Behavioral: Behavior modification and TEACCH


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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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.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 2 Years
Maximum Age: 8 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Basic Science
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Factorial Assignment
Masking: Triple


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Sensory Integration Training<br>Behavior modification and Sensory Integration Training | Behavioral: Behavior modification and sensory integration training<br>* Each group has 30 subjects and experiences six months' training.<br>|
| Experimental: applied behavioral analysis<br>Behavior modification and applied behavioral analysis. | Behavioral: Behavior modification and applied behavioral analysis<br>* Each group has 30 subjects and experiences six months' training.<br>|
| Experimental: TEACCH<br>Behavior modification and TEACCH. | Behavioral: Behavior modification and TEACCH<br>* Each group has 30 subjects and experiences six months' training.<br>|
| Other: Behavior modification<br>Behavior modification. | Behavioral: Behavior modification<br>* Each group has 30 subjects and experiences six months' training.<br>|
| No Intervention: healthy control group<br>No intervention. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Brain structural and functional change under behavioral intervention at 6 months in children with autism | 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. | through study completion, an average of 1 year | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Prediction model of intervention effect based on multimodal multivariate pattern analysis methods | 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. | through study completion, an average of 1 year | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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autism, Brain Plasticity, Behavioral Intervention, Magnetic Resonance Imaging