TY - JOUR
T1 - Brain anatomy and its relationship to behavior in adults with autism spectrum disorder
T2 - A multicenter magnetic resonance imaging study
AU - Ecker, Christine
AU - Suckling, John
AU - Deoni, Sean C
AU - Lombardo, Michael V
AU - Bullmore, Ed T
AU - Baron-Cohen, Simon
AU - Catani, Marco
AU - Jezzard, Peter
AU - Barnes, Anna
AU - Bailey, Anthony J
AU - Williams, Steven
AU - Murphy, Declan G M
AU - MRC AIMS consortium
PY - 2012/2
Y1 - 2012/2
N2 - Context: There is consensus that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is accompanied by differences in neuroanatomy. However, the neural substrates of ASD during adulthood, as well as how these relate to behavioral variation, remain poorly understood. Objective: To identify brain regions and systems associated with ASD in a large, well-characterizedsampleof adults. Design: Multicenter case-control design using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging. Setting: Medical Research Council UK Autism Imaging Multicentre Study (MRC AIMS), with sites comprising the Institute of Psychiatry, KingsCollege London; the Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge; and the Autism Research Group, University of Oxford. Participants: Eighty-nine men with ASD and 89 male control participants who did not differ significantly in mean age (26 and 28 years, respectively) and full-scale IQ (110 and 113, respectively). Main Outcome Measures: (1) Between-group differences in regional neuroanatomy assessed by voxelbased morphometry and (2) distributed neural systems maximally correlated with ASD, as identified by partial least-squares analysis. Results: Adults with ASD did not differ significantly from the controls in overall brain volume, confirming the results of smaller studies of individuals in this age group without intellectual disability. However, voxelwise comparison between groups revealed that individuals with ASD had significantly increased gray matter volume in the anterior temporal and dorsolateral prefrontal regions and significant reductions in the occipital and medial parietal regions compared with controls. These regional differences in neuroanatomy were significantly correlated with the severity of specific autistic symptoms. The large-scale neuroanatomic networks maximally correlated with ASD identified by partial least-squares analysis included the regions identified by voxel-based analysis, as well as the cerebellum, basal ganglia, amygdala, inferior parietal lobe, cingulate cortex, and various medial, orbital, and lateral prefrontal regions. We also observed spatially distributed reductions in white matter volume in participants with ASD. Conclusions: Adults with ASD have distributed differences in brain anatomy and connectivity that are associated with specific autistic features and traits. These results are compatible with the concept of autism as a syndrome characterized by atypical neural "connectivity." ©2012 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
AB - Context: There is consensus that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is accompanied by differences in neuroanatomy. However, the neural substrates of ASD during adulthood, as well as how these relate to behavioral variation, remain poorly understood. Objective: To identify brain regions and systems associated with ASD in a large, well-characterizedsampleof adults. Design: Multicenter case-control design using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging. Setting: Medical Research Council UK Autism Imaging Multicentre Study (MRC AIMS), with sites comprising the Institute of Psychiatry, KingsCollege London; the Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge; and the Autism Research Group, University of Oxford. Participants: Eighty-nine men with ASD and 89 male control participants who did not differ significantly in mean age (26 and 28 years, respectively) and full-scale IQ (110 and 113, respectively). Main Outcome Measures: (1) Between-group differences in regional neuroanatomy assessed by voxelbased morphometry and (2) distributed neural systems maximally correlated with ASD, as identified by partial least-squares analysis. Results: Adults with ASD did not differ significantly from the controls in overall brain volume, confirming the results of smaller studies of individuals in this age group without intellectual disability. However, voxelwise comparison between groups revealed that individuals with ASD had significantly increased gray matter volume in the anterior temporal and dorsolateral prefrontal regions and significant reductions in the occipital and medial parietal regions compared with controls. These regional differences in neuroanatomy were significantly correlated with the severity of specific autistic symptoms. The large-scale neuroanatomic networks maximally correlated with ASD identified by partial least-squares analysis included the regions identified by voxel-based analysis, as well as the cerebellum, basal ganglia, amygdala, inferior parietal lobe, cingulate cortex, and various medial, orbital, and lateral prefrontal regions. We also observed spatially distributed reductions in white matter volume in participants with ASD. Conclusions: Adults with ASD have distributed differences in brain anatomy and connectivity that are associated with specific autistic features and traits. These results are compatible with the concept of autism as a syndrome characterized by atypical neural "connectivity." ©2012 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
KW - Magnetic Resonance Imaging
KW - Child Development Disorders, Pervasive
KW - Young Adult
KW - Humans
KW - Linear Models
KW - Adult
KW - Case-Control Studies
KW - Brain
KW - Least-Squares Analysis
KW - Child
KW - Adolescent
KW - Male
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?partnerID=yv4JPVwI&eid=2-s2.0-84863393507&md5=fdf9452f8e0606c55801a903d9ba95ee
U2 - 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.1251
DO - 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.1251
M3 - Article
C2 - 22310506
SN - 1538-3636
VL - 69
SP - 195
EP - 209
JO - Archives of General Psychiatry
JF - Archives of General Psychiatry
IS - 2
ER -