Psychotropic medication use in autism spectrum disorders may affect functional brain connectivity.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Prescription of psychotropic medications is common in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), either off-label or to treat comorbid conditions such as ADHD or depression. Psychotropic medications are intended to alter brain function. Yet, studies investigating the functional brain organization in ASDs rarely take medication usage into account. This could explain some of the inconsistent findings of atypical brain network connectivity reported in the autism literature.

Methods

The current study tested whether functional connectivity patterns, as assessed with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), differed in a cohort of 49 children and adolescents with ASDs based on psychotropic medication status, and in comparison with 50 matched typically developing (TD) partic

SUBMITTER: Linke AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5667652 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature