• Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) comprise a group of neurodevelopmental disorders clinically characterized by social communication deficits and restricted and repetitive behaviors .
• This condition is reported to affect 1 in 59 individuals according to the last Centers for diseases control and prevention (CDC) update of autism's estimated prevalence.
• Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is considered a formidable challenge for neuroscience because of their high prevalence, lifelong nature, complexity and substantial heterogeneity .
• Although the etiology and pathogenesis of ASD are unclear ,the connectivity theory of ASD has been paid extensive attention in recent years. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has played an important role in studying the abnormal neurobiological underpinnings in ASD.
• Resting-state fMRI has provided a convenient tool to examine the changes in the intrinsic connectivity of specific regions and networks in ASD and non-ASD subjects.
• In this study, we further pursued to delineate patterns of intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) in children with ASD and its relation to behavioral symptomatology, using rs-fMRI, hoping to shed another light of understanding on the complexity of ASD which may be a step forward for developing brain based biomarkers of the disorder.