Meng‐Chuan Lai

Transdiagnostic Profiles of BOLD Signal Variability in Autism and Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: Associations with Cognition and Functioning

This study examines BOLD signal variability in autism and schizophrenia, finding reduced variability in these groups compared to controls, linked to poorer cognitive and functional outcomes.

Mapping Brain Growth and Sex Differences Across Prenatal to Postnatal Development

This study analyzes a large MRI dataset to model age-related brain volume changes and sex differences from prenatal to postnatal development.

Transdiagnostic Neurobiology of Social Cognition and Individual Variability as Measured by Fractional Amplitude of Low-Frequency Fluctuation in Schizophrenia and Autism Spectrum Disorders

The paper uses fALFF to compare brain activity patterns in ASD, SSD, and TDC groups, finding shared neurobiological features and variability differences.

Chromosome X-Wide Common Variant Association Study (XWAS) in Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study performs an X chromosome-wide association study (XWAS) in ASD, identifying 59 variants associated with ASD, including novel candidate genes like FGF13.

Sex Differences in Human Brain Structure at Birth

The paper examines sex differences in brain structure at birth in newborns, finding larger brain volumes in males and specific regional differences in gray and white matter volumes between sexes.

Comparing the stability and reproducibility of brain-behaviour relationships found using Canonical Correlation Analysis and Partial Least Squares within the ABCD Sample

Patterns of connectome variability in autism across five functional activation tasks. Findings from the LEAP project

The paper identifies patterns of neural variability in autism using fMRI across tasks, finding greater global connectivity deviations and similar spatial patterns in autistic individuals compared to controls.

Autism is associated with inter-individual variations of gray and white matter morphology

The paper identifies a multimodal brain pattern associated with autism by integrating gray and white matter morphology data and linking it to clinical symptoms.

Genetic correlates of phenotypic heterogeneity in autism

This study identifies genetic correlates of phenotypic heterogeneity in autism by analyzing common and de novo variants across core features and co-occurring disabilities.

Cortico-amygdalar connectivity and externalizing/internalizing behavior in children with neurodevelopmental disorders

The paper examines associations between externalizing/internalizing behaviors and cortico-amygdalar connectivity in children with NDDs and TDC, finding no significant linear relationships.

Towards robust and replicable sex differences in the intrinsic brain function of autism

The paper investigates sex differences in autism using resting-state fMRI data, finding significant effects in brain connectivity and replicating some findings in independent samples.

Integration of Brain and Behavior Measures for Identification of Data-Driven Groups Cutting Across Children with ASD, ADHD, or OCD

The paper integrates brain imaging and behavioral data to identify transdiagnostic subgroups in children with ASD, ADHD, or OCD, finding stable groups based on cortical thickness and inattention symptoms.

Atypical brain asymmetry in autism - a candidate for clinically meaningful stratification

The paper identifies atypical brain asymmetry in autism as a potential neurophenotype for stratification, showing individualized patterns linked to symptom severity and language delay.

Intrinsic excitation-inhibition imbalance affects medial prefrontal cortex differently in autistic men versus women

The paper shows that the Hurst exponent from fMRI BOLD signals indexes synaptic excitation-inhibition ratio, revealing sex-specific E:I imbalance in autistic mice medial prefrontal cortex.

Examining the boundary sharpness coefficient as an index of cortical microstructure and its relationship to age and sex in autism spectrum disorder

This study examines the boundary sharpness coefficient (BSC) as a measure of cortical microstructure in ASD, finding age, sex, and regional differences in BSC that correlate with clinical measures.

Attenuated Anticipation of Social and Monetary Rewards in Autism Spectrum Disorders

This study investigates reward processing in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and finds generalized hypoactivity in the ventral striatum during anticipation of both social and monetary rewards.

Differential neural circuitry behind autism subtypes with imbalanced social-communicative and restricted repetitive behavior symptoms

The paper develops a phenotypic stratification model to predict autism subtypes based on SC-RRB balance and applies it to fMRI data, identifying subtype-specific neural circuitry and gene expression patterns.

Salivary sex hormone levels following oxytocin administration in autistic and typical women

This study examines how oxytocin affects salivary testosterone and oestradiol levels in autistic and typical women, finding distinct hormonal responses between groups.

Big data approaches to decomposing heterogeneity across the autism spectrum

This paper discusses the importance of big data approaches for understanding heterogeneity in autism and highlights the need for both supervised and unsupervised methods to model variability across multiple levels of analysis.

Sex-specific impact of prenatal androgens on intrinsic functional connectivity between social brain default mode subsystems

The paper investigates how prenatal androgens affect functional connectivity in social brain networks, finding sex-specific impacts on adolescent males.