Cognitive Brain Networks in Adult Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Analyses of Functional Connectivity with a Higher Criticism Approach

Functional connectivity (FC) between and within a majority of cognition-related brain networks is altered in young adults with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Findings in a network-level analysis of resting-state fMRI data with a Higher Criticism approach were most obvious within a dorsal attention subnetwork and to a lesser extent in a salience / ventral attention subnetwork. When analyzing these effects further by looking at single connections, no individual FC alteration was statistically significant when adjusting for multiple comparisons. The finding of a wide distribution of FC alterations across networks might help resolve partially contradictory results in previous studies.