Download or read book Neural Correlates of Socioeconomic Status and Language Skills in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders written by Lindsay Olson and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite great strides in characterizing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in early childhood, ASD research has largely overlooked the role socioeconomic status (SES) plays in early development. Broadly, SES captures the degree to which individuals are better or worse off in terms of their access to material and social resources (often measured via income and educational attainment). It remains unknown to what extent SES may be associated with the neural correlates of emerging language skills, above and beyond the known developmental vulnerabilities associated with ASD alone. This project was conducted using data collected through the SDSU Toddler MRI Project, which included behavioral and MRI data from 15- to 64-month-old children with autism and their typically developing (TD) peers (NASD = 39, NTD = 37). SES predictor variables included family-level (parental education, income-to-needs ratio) and population-level SES factors (neighborhood advantage index). Neural outcome measures included anatomical features (cortical thickness, surface area, and local gyrification) of canonical language regions, and functional connectivity between these regions (bilateral superior temporal gyrus--STG, posterior superior temporal sulcus--pSTS, inferior frontal gyrus--IFG, and middle temporal gyrus--MTG). Multiple linear regression models were used to test for associations between socioeconomic variables and neural indices, as well as SES x diagnosis (ASD vs. TD) interaction effects, controlling for covariates. FDR correction was used to control Type I error rate. Neighborhood advantage index (N-SES) was negatively associated with interhemispheric connectivity between several canonical language regions (partial r2 values = [0.07-0.10], all ps