Regional volumetric abnormalities in pediatric autism revealed by structural magnetic resonance imaging. Issue 71 (December 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Levman, Jacob; Vasung, Lana; MacDonald, Patrick; Rowley, Sean; Stewart, Natalie; Lim, Ashley; Ewenson, Bryan; Galaburda, Albert; Takahashi, Emi
• Is Part Of: International journal of developmental neuroscience. Issue 71(2018:Dec.)
• Page Start: 34
• Page End: 45
• Publication Date: 2018-12
• Subjects: Autistic -- Development -- Magnetic resonance imaging -- Neuroanatomy -- Volumetric; Developmental neurobiology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Neurologie du développement -- Périodiques; Developmental neurobiology; Periodicals; 612.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2018.08.001
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0736-5748

Abstract

Highlights: Large scale clinical structural volumetric MRI analysis of autism. Increased group-wise volumes of the choroid plexus observed among the autistic. High correlations between choroid plexus volume and ventricular volume. Increased group-wise regional volumes observed in the autistic early years. Abstract: Autism is a group of complex neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impaired social interaction, restricted and repetitive behavior. We performed a large-scale retrospective analysis of 1, 996 structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations of the brain from 1, 769 autistic and neurologically typically developing patients (aged 0–32 years), and extracted regional volumetric measurements distributed across 463 brain regions of each patient. The youngest autistic patients (<2.5 years) were diagnosed after imaging and identified retrospectively. Our study demonstrates corpus callosum volumetric abnormalities among autistic patients that are associated with brain overgrowth in early childhood (0–5 years old), followed by a shift towards known decreased volumes in later ages. Results confirm known increases in ventricular volumes among autistic populations and extends those findings to increased volumes of the choroid plexus. Our study also demonstrates distributed volumetric abnormalities among autistic patients that affect a variety of key regional white and grey matter areas of the brain potentially associated with known symptoms of autism.