Brief ReportWhite matter structure in autism: preliminary evidence from diffusion tensor imaging
Section snippets
Methods and materials
Subjects were 16 male children and adolescents, 7 diagnosed with high-functioning autism and 9 typically developing control subjects (Table 1). The diagnosis of autism was based on DSM-IV criteria (American Psychiatric Association 1994), the Autism Diagnostic Inventory—Revised (Rutter et al 1995), and the Autism Diagnostic Observational Schedule, Generic (Lord et al 1999). In addition, a history of delayed phrase speech development (i.e., after 36 months) was an inclusion criterion for the
Results
As shown in Table 1, there were no significant differences in full-scale IQ between the two groups; however, subjects with autism had a significantly lower verbal IQ score, as expected. In this sample, the performance IQ was significantly higher in subjects with autism compared with control subjects.
Subjects with autism showed significantly reduced FA values in, and adjacent to, the anterior cingulate bilaterally, extending into the body and genu of the corpus callosum, the ventromedial
Discussion
Our preliminary results suggest that white matter structure is disrupted in subjects with autism. Specifically, reduced FA values were seen adjacent to brain regions that have been implicated in social cognition. Among these are regions important for face and gaze processing (fusiform gyrus and the superior temporal sulcus; Kanwisher et al., 1997, Puce et al., 1995, Puce et al., 1998) and for awareness of mental states and emotional processing (anterior cingulate, amygdala, ventromedial
Acknowledgements
The research presented in this manuscript was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant Nos. MH01142, HD31715, MH064708, and HD40761, and the Sinclair Fund. We thank Christopher Dant and Amy Garrett for their help in manuscript preparation.
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