Hypoactivation of the Right Prefrontal Cortex Underlying Motor-Related Inhibitory Deficits in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are believed to share the symptom of neurocognitive dysfunction in executive functions. Regarding the components of executive functions, however, dysfunction of motor-response inhibitory control in children with ASD remains unclear. Thus, using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), we investigated whether putative inhibitory brain dysfunctions are applicable to children with ASD by adopting a go/no-go task, which has robustly evoked activation in typically developing (TD) children but not in ADHD children. Twenty-four ASD and 24 TD children underwent a go/no-go task, and their cortical hemodynamics were assessed using fNIRS. Relative to TD participants, ASD participants showed reduced activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus and middle frontal gyrus (IFG/MFG) during go/no-go tasks. The current finding suggests that hypoactivation in the right IFG/MFG during a go/no-go task would serve as a potential biomarker for identifying children with ASD.