Original articleCortical Gray and White Brain Tissue Volume in Adolescents and Adults with Autism
Section snippets
Sample
Subjects for this study were a subset of a previously described sample of autistic and control subjects where brain enlargement on MRI was observed in the autistic individuals (Piven et al 1996). This sample provided an ideal opportunity to explore regional patterns of gray and white matter tissue volumes in a sample of autistic individuals with increased average total brain volume. The study was reviewed and approved by the University of Iowa Institutional Review Board. Written informed
Results
Consistent with results reported in the original sample (Piven et al 1996), total cerebral volume was significantly increased in the subset of autistic individuals versus controls included in this analysis (F1,34 = 5.16, p = .03). Mean total cerebral volume (SD) for the subjects with autism was 1222.8 cm3 (25.6) versus 1123.7 cm3 (32.5) for controls.
Table 2 presents the overall results of the repeated measures mixed model analyses showing significant tissue by hemisphere effects in cases versus
Discussion
In this study we examined gray and white tissue volumes by hemisphere and cortical lobe, in a group of autistic individuals known to have brain enlargement on MRI. Results revealed an increase in left-sided, cortical, gray tissue volume with no significant increase in white tissue volume. Subjects with autism had significant enlargement of gray tissue in the frontal and temporal, but not parietal or occipital lobes.
Our finding of increased gray tissue volume suggests the presence of an aberrant
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