# Changes in regional homogeneity of the social brain in individuals with autism spectrum disorder after social skills training

## TL;DR

This study shows that social skills training in individuals with autism can change brain activity patterns linked to social behavior.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates that social skills training can modulate regional brain activity in social brain regions associated with behavioral improvements in autism.

## Key findings

- Social skills training reduced regional homogeneity in key social brain regions like the right medial frontal gyrus.
- Participants who received training showed broader behavioral improvements compared to the control group.
- Reduced brain activity in specific regions correlated with decreased severity of social deficits.

## Abstract

This study examined changes in regional homogeneity (ReHo) following Social Skills Training (SST) and their association with improvements in social deficits in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

44 adolescents and adults with ASD (aged 12-30) were recruited, 38 participants (20 in training group, 18 in control group, matched for sex, age, and IQ) were retained after quality control of MRI data. The training group underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and assessments of Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) and Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) before and after a 14-week SST program, while the control group completed the same MRI scans and assessments at the same time point but did not receive SST.

Resting-state functional MRI analyses revealed significant group × condition interactions in five social brain regions, including the right medial frontal gyrus, right insula, and left medial superior frontal gyrus. At the endpoint of SST, the training group showed reduced ReHo in these regions alongside significant decreases in scores of ABC total, social withdrawal factor, SRS total, social awareness, social cognition, social communication factors. The control group, in contrast, showed only limited improvements on specific subscales, while the training group demonstrated a broader pattern of behavioral gains. We also found an exploratory association between the decrease in ReHo of the right medial frontal gyrus and the reduction in the ABC total score in training group.

These findings indicate that SST may modulate local functional connectivity within the social brain networks, and these connectivity changes may correlate with observed behavioral improvements.