Developmental brain structural atypicalities in autism: a voxel-based morphometry analysis

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health

Jing Liu¹  Zeng-Hui Ma¹  Liu Yang¹  Jing-Ran Liu¹  Qing-Jiu Cao¹  Xue Li¹  Hui Wang¹  Ling-Zi Xu¹  Zhao-Zheng Ji¹  Xin-Zhou Tang¹ 

[1] Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), 51 Huayuan Road, Haidian District, 100191, Beijing, China;

关键词: Autism;    sMRI;    Voxel-based morphometry;    Brain structural atypicalities;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13034-022-00443-4

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundStructural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) studies have shown atypicalities in structural brain changes in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), while a noticeable discrepancy in their results indicates the necessity of conducting further researches.MethodsThe current study investigated the atypical structural brain features of autistic individuals who aged 6–30 years old. A total of 52 autistic individuals and 50 age-, gender-, and intelligence quotient (IQ)-matched typically developing (TD) individuals were included in this study, and were assigned into three based cohorts: childhood (6–12 years old), adolescence (13–18 years old), and adulthood (19–30 years old). Analyses of whole-brain volume and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) on the sMRI data were conducted.ResultsNo significant difference was found in the volumes of whole-brain, gray matter, and white matter between the autism and TD groups in the three age-based cohorts. For VBM analyses, the volumes of gray matter in the right superior temporal gyrus and right inferior parietal lobule in the autism group (6–12 years old) were smaller than those in the TD group; the gray matter volume in the left inferior parietal lobule in the autism group (13–18 years old) was larger than that in the TD group; the gray matter volume in the right middle occipital gyrus in the autism group (19–30 years old) was larger than that in the TD group, and the gray matter volume in the left posterior cingulate gyrus in the autism group was smaller than that in the TD group.ConclusionAutistic individuals showed different atypical regional gray matter volumetric changes in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood compared to their TD peers, indicating that it is essential to consider developmental stages of the brain when exploring brain structural atypicalities in autism.

【 授权许可】

CC BY