Sex-specific cerebrovascular reactivity differences related to functional connectivity in autistic children

Motivation: Resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI) is influenced by both neuronal and vascular function. However, cerebrovascular differences in autism identified in preclinical studies, and how they affect functional connectivity (FC), have not been investigated in autism in-vivo. Goal(s): We evaluate relative cerebrovascular reactivity (rCVR) differences in autistic children compared to typical development and how they affect FC. Approach: We leverage a novel rsfMRI method to measure rCVR and FC in a large database of autistic and non-autistic children. Results: Autistic girls had elevated rCVR compared to non-autistic girls in right-frontal regions associated with attention. RCVR was positively associated with FC within the ventral attention network. Impact: Our study highlights potential differences in cerebrovascular function in autism that could improve our neurobiological understanding of autism-related FC changes and inform new targets for intervention.