White and Grey Matter Abnormalities in Autism Align with Verbal Ability

Authors

  • Sabine V. Huemer Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California,
  • Frithjof Kruggel Department of Medical Bioengineering, University of California,
  • Virginia Mann Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California,
  • J.G. Gehricke Department of Pediatrics, University of California,

Keywords:

Autism spectrum disorder, Receptive verbal ability, Neurological subgroups, Adolescents, Structural magnetic resonance imaging.

Abstract

This whole-brain structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) investigation of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) analyzed white and grey matter concentrations, shape differences, and brain microstructure in 20 adolescents with ASD and 10 neurotypical controls. Evidence for significant group-related differences was found in nine regions, most associated with language processing, including the precentral gyrus, the anterior cingulate, the operculum, superior frontal, and superior temporal gyri. An additional analysis revealed that lower scores from a standardized measure of receptive verbal ability correlated with reduced white matter in the arcuate and uncinate fascicles, inthalamo-frontal and thalamo-cerebellar connections, and in interhemispheric connections passing through the callosal sections I and V. Our findings point to distinct neurological subgroups in ASD which align with the level of verbal ability.

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Published

2016-10-28

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2016)

Section

Articles

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