Objectives: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a juvenile onset neurodevelopmental disorder with social impairment and stereotyped behavior as the main symptoms. Unaffected relatives may also exhibit similar ASD features due to genetic factors. Although previous studies have demonstrated atypical brain morphological features as well as task-state brain function abnormalities in unaffected parents with ASD children, it remains unclear the pattern of brain function in the resting state.Methods: A total of 42 unaffected parents of ASD children (pASD) and 39 age-, sex-, (...) and handedness-matched controls were enrolled. Multiple resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) analyzing methods were applied, including amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), degree centrality (DC), and functional connectivity (FC), to reveal the functional abnormalities of unaffected parents in ASD-related brain regions. Spearman Rho correlation analysis between imaging metric values and the severity of ASD traits were evaluated as well.Results: ALFF, ReHo, and DC methods all revealed abnormal brain regions in the pASD group, such as the left medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) and rectal gyrus (ROI-1), bilateral supplementary motor area (ROI-2), right caudate nucleus head and right amygdala/para-hippocampal gyrus (ROI-3). FC decreasing was observed between ROI-1 and right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), ROI-2, and bilateral precuneus. FC enhancing was observed between ROI-3 and right anterior cerebellar lobe, left medial temporal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, left medial frontal gyrus, left precentral gyrus, right postcentral gyrus in pASD. In addition, ALFF values in ROI-1, DC values in ROI-3 were positively correlated with AQ scores in pASD (ρ1 = 0.298, P1 = 0.007; ρ2 = 0.220, P2 = 0.040), while FC values between ROI-1 and right ACC were negatively correlated with AQ scores (ρ3 = −0.334, P3 = 0.002).Conclusion: rsfMRI metrics could be used as biomarkers to reveal the underlying neurobiological feature of ASD for unaffected parents. (shrink)

This study investigated the effect of Mahjong, which is a table game played by three or four players and involves intellectual activity, on the intelligence quotient of children. The participants were children between the age of 6 and 15 years, and their IQ was assessed immediately after enrolling in children's Mahjong classes and 1 year after the enrollment using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Fourth Edition. Twenty children were included in the analysis. Their mean age at the time of (...) the initial evaluation was 9 years and 6 months. In addition, we conducted a 1-year post-examination. The change in the IQ of this group was compared to that of a historical control group with a similar age range and test–retest interval. The mean overall full-scale IQ of the 20 children during the initial and post-1-year examinations was 106.05 and 113.75, respectively, and showed a statistically significant increase. Based on the subscale index, the verbal comprehension index and processing speed index scores both showed a statistically significant increase from 100.6 to 106.75 and from 108.05 to 119.05, respectively. The PSI of the children included in the analysis showed a statistically significant increase compared to the historical control group. This study suggests that children who participate in Mahjong classes during their childhood have increased PSI scores of WISC-IV. (shrink)