Widespread White Matter Differences in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

V M Vogan; B R Morgan; R C Leung; E Anagnostou; K Doyle-Thomas; M J Taylor

doi:10.1007/s10803-016-2744-2

Widespread White Matter Differences in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

J Autism Dev Disord. 2016 Jun;46(6):2138-2147. doi: 10.1007/s10803-016-2744-2.

Authors

V M Vogan^{1

2}, B R Morgan³, R C Leung^{3

4}, E Anagnostou⁵, K Doyle-Thomas⁵, M J Taylor^{3

6

4}

Affiliations

¹ Hospital for Sick Children, Diagnostic Imaging, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada. vanessa.vogan@sickkids.ca.
² Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, Toronto, ON, Canada. vanessa.vogan@sickkids.ca.
³ Hospital for Sick Children, Diagnostic Imaging, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁵ Bloorview Research Institute, Holland-Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, 150 Kilgour Road, Toronto, ON, M4G 1R8, Canada.
⁶ Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, Toronto, ON, Canada.

PMID: 26899725
DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-2744-2

Abstract

Diffusion tensor imaging studies show white matter (WM) abnormalities in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, investigations are often limited by small samples, particularly problematic given the heterogeneity of ASD. We explored WM using DTI in a large sample of 130 children and adolescents (7-15 years) with and without ASD, whether age-related changes differed between ASD and control groups, and the relation between DTI measures and ASD symptomatology. Reduced fractional anisotropy and axial diffusivity were observed in ASD in numerous WM tracts, including the corpus callosum and thalamocortical fibres-tracts crucial for interhemispheric connectivity and higher order information processing. Widespread WM compromise in ASD is consistent with the view that ASD is a disorder of generalized complex information processing.

Keywords: Autism; Development; Diffusion tensor imaging; White matter.

Publication types

Comparative Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Anisotropy
Autism Spectrum Disorder / diagnostic imaging*
Brain / diagnostic imaging
Child
Corpus Callosum / diagnostic imaging
Diffusion Tensor Imaging / methods
Female
Humans
Male
White Matter / diagnostic imaging*

Grants and funding

MOP-106582/CIHR/Canada