Publicação
Autistic vs. control differences in MRI scan quality across ABIDE-II sites
| datacite.subject.sdg | 03:Saúde de Qualidade | |
| datacite.subject.sdg | 10:Reduzir as Desigualdades | |
| datacite.subject.sdg | 09:Indústria, Inovação e Infraestruturas | |
| dc.contributor.author | Pinheiro, João | |
| dc.contributor.author | Afonso, Beatriz | |
| dc.contributor.author | Seiça, Emanuel Cortesão de | |
| dc.contributor.author | Gonçalves, Rita | |
| dc.contributor.author | Ribeiro, Luís | |
| dc.contributor.author | Reis, Joana | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-06-26T14:20:07Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-06-26T14:20:07Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2026-05-13 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Background: Head motion and variability in scan quality remain major methodological challenges in autism neuroimaging. Large multi-site datasets such as ABIDE-II provide a unique opportunity to systematically quantify diagnostic differences in MRI data quality and assess the influence of site-level heterogeneity. Methods: Functional MRI Quality Assessment Protocol (QAP) metrics were combined with phenotypic data from ABIDE-II. Participants were classified as autistic (ASD) or typically developing (TD). Key quality metrics—including mean framewise displacement (mFD), proportion of volumes exceeding 0.20 mm (FD > 0.20), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and entropy focus criterion (EFC)—were analyzed alongside age, sex, IQ, and site. Group differences were evaluated using non parametric tests and linear mixed-effects models with site as a random factor. Additional analyses examined site-level heterogeneity and the impact of quality-control (QC) thresh olds on sample composition. Results: The final sample included 1277 participants (579 ASD; 698 TD) across 14 sites. ASD participants exhibited significantly greater head motion (median mFD = 0.101 vs. 0.081 mm; p < 1 × 10−10) and modest reductions in signal quality (lower SNR, higher EFC). Elevated motion in ASD was observed in 12 of 14 sites, although effect sizes varied substantially. Mixed-effects models confirmed that diagnosis remained a significant predictor of motion after adjusting for covariates. In contrast, signal-quality differences were small and largely explained by site effects. Simulated QC procedures disproportionately excluded ASD participants, with exclusion rates up to 31% compared to 18% in TD. Conclusions: ASD participants show consistently higher head motion, while signal-quality differences are minimal and largely site-driven. Standard QC procedures disproportionately exclude ASD individuals, highlighting the need for improved motion handling and more balanced quality-control strategies in multi-site studies. | eng |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.3390/diagnostics16101478 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2075-4418 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/29158 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.peerreviewed | yes | |
| dc.publisher | MDPI | |
| dc.relation.ispartof | Diagnostics | |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
| dc.subject | Autism spectrum disorder | |
| dc.subject | Mri data quality | |
| dc.subject | Multi-site neuroimaging | |
| dc.subject | Quality control bias | |
| dc.subject | ABIDE-II | |
| dc.title | Autistic vs. control differences in MRI scan quality across ABIDE-II sites | eng |
| dc.type | journal article | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| oaire.citation.endPage | 24 | |
| oaire.citation.issue | 10 | |
| oaire.citation.startPage | 1 | |
| oaire.citation.title | Diagnostics | |
| oaire.citation.volume | 16 | |
| oaire.version | http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85 | |
| person.familyName | Pinheiro | |
| person.familyName | Gonçalves | |
| person.familyName | Ribeiro | |
| person.givenName | João | |
| person.givenName | Rita | |
| person.givenName | Luís | |
| person.identifier | 1875089 | |
| person.identifier.ciencia-id | 9616-AF73-75DE | |
| person.identifier.ciencia-id | 0015-5B69-4B53 | |
| person.identifier.orcid | 0000-0001-7019-8313 | |
| person.identifier.orcid | 0000-0003-1273-8048 | |
| person.identifier.orcid | 0000-0003-0220-4691 | |
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