ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Children and Health
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Motor Coordination Therapy for Children with Developmental DisordersView all 9 articles
The association between motor coordination impairment and altered functional connectivity among autistic children
Provisionally accepted
- 1Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, China
- 2Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
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Background: Motor coordination impairment among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has recently gained increasing attention. However, the relationship between functional connectivity (FC) alterations and motor coordination impairment among ASD remains inconclusive. Methods: We evaluated motor coordination function using the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ) and acquired resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scans from 23 autistic individuals and 25 typically developing (TD) controls (6-10 years old). Within-and between-network FC was estimated using group independent component analysis (ICA) and group comparison was addressed using two-sample t-tests. Relationships between abnormal FC and motor coordination among ASD were investigated with multiple linear regression, with age, gender, and intelligence quotient (IQ) considered as covariates. Results: In the ASD group, 1) FC within the right cerebellar crus II was negatively correlated to the score of general coordination (β=-0.566, p=0.035) and control during movement (β=-0.529, p=0.026); 2) FC between the cerebellar network and frontal-temporal-parietal network was negatively correlated to the score of general coordination (β=-2.610, p=0.006); 3) Increased FC between the cerebellar network and insular network was associated with a higher score of fine motor/handwriting (β=-0.529, p=0.026). Conclusions: We confirmed the role of the insular network in interoception and motor processing among ASD, which was related to impaired information integrating, relaying, and visual feedback during movement. A significant relationship between the cerebellar network and frontal-temporal-parietal network in motor coordination indicated that a deficit in the planning of movements may contribute to atypical motor skills. The study gained an understanding of neuroimaging traits among ASD children and may provide evidence for the design of the motor-related intervention.
Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder, functional connectivity, Independent Component Analysis, motor coordination, resting-statefunctional MRI
Received: 23 Sep 2025; Accepted: 09 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Cao, Jin and Jin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Muqing Cao
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