Brain connectivity changes associated with one year of behavioral therapy for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Although much of the current literature in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has focused on illuminating their biological underpinnings or identifying effective treatment approaches, very little research has integrated these two areas of study and examined the neurobiological outcomes associated with various autism interventions. The proposed study will use functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (fcMRI) to measure changes in resting state connectivity associated with an intensive behavioral intervention for young children with ASD. Independent component analysis and t-tests will be used to determine if 20 children receiving a behavioral intervention experience greater changes in connectivity than 20 children (matched for sex and developmental age) in a control group receiving treatment as usual (TAU).