Brief Report: Abnormal Association Between the Thalamus and Brain Size in Asperger’s Disorder

Hardan, Antonio Y.; Girgis, Ragy R.; Adams, Jason W; Gilbert, Anna C.; Melhem, Nadine M.; Keshavan, Matcheri S.; Minshew, Nancy J.

doi:10.1007/s10803-007-0385-1

Cited by 32 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…These findings were consistent with the work of others who found increases in basal ganglia volume in individuals with autism [31][32][33]. Additionally, differences in thalamus volume [37,38], and impaired white matter connectivity in the frontal lobe [39] also implicate the frontostriatal system in the etiology of autism and are consistent with the impairments observed in timing perception in individuals with autism.…”

Section: Degradation In Toj Could Be Accounted For By Abnormalities Isupporting

confidence: 91%

Cortical-Cortical Interactions and Sensory Information Processing in Autism

Tommerdahl¹

2011

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Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (0704-0188), 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. REPORT DATE 30-04-2008 REPORT TYPE PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBERUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 27599-1350 SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S) U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command Fort Detrick, Maryland 21702-5012 SPONSOR/MONITOR'S REPORT NUMBER(S) DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENTApproved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES ABSTRACTThere are two specific aims or categories of deliverables to be accomplished as tasks in this DoD sponsored research: The first specific aim is the hardware design and fabrication of a portable tactile diagnostic stimulator that can be used for the assessment of the cerebral cortical health of neurologically compromised subjects -in particular, those subjects with autism. The second specific aim is the development of tactile discriminative protocols that will be used for the evaluation of the differences in cerebral cortical function between subjects with and without autism. In this first year of research, all the milestones listed for Y01 in the Statement of Work were met. SUBJECT TERMS Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………8References…………………………………………………………………………….9 Appendices……………………………………………………………………………94 IntroductionThere are two specific aims or categories of deliverables to be accomplished as tasks in this DoD sponsored research: The first specific aim is the hardware design and fabrication of a portable tactile diagnostic stimulator that can be used for the assessment of the cerebral cortical health of neurologically compromised subjects -in particular, those subjects with autism. The second specific aim is the development of tactile discriminative protocols that will be used for the evaluation of the differences in cerebral cortical function between subjects with and without autism. In this first year of research, all the milestones listed for Y01 in the Statement of Work were met. To summarize, two versions of the two-point vertical displacement vibrotactile stimulator were built and tested, and ...

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Section: Degradation In Toj Could Be Accounted For By Abnormalities Isupporting

confidence: 91%

Cortical-Cortical Interactions and Sensory Information Processing in Autism

Tommerdahl¹

2011

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“…In addition to larger TBV, many regional specificities have also been detected (Amaral et al, 2008). Abnormalities in cerebellar volume have been reported since 1988 (Courchesne et al, 1988); larger amygdala volume has been recorded in some, but not all studies (Aylward et al, 1999;Schumann et al, 2004), with meta-analyses again supporting age as a crucial factor, as enlargement is present only in young children with autism (Constantino et al, 2010;Jou et al, 2010); decreased thickness of the corpus callosum, resulting in reduced interhemispheric connectivity (Vidal et al, 2006); increased volume of the caudate nucleus, correlated with the severity of stereotypic behaviors (Hollander et al, 2005); enlarged frontal (Hardan et al, 2009), temporal (Rojas et al, 2005;Jou et al, 2010), and parietal lobes (Courchesne et al, 1993); abnormal thalamus (Hardan et al, 2008;Tamura et al, 2010) and brainstem (Rodier, 2002). In summary, on the basis of the existing literature, it is possible conclude that autism is associated with generalized enlargements of the cerebral hemispheres, the cerebellum and the caudate nucleus with, conversely, reductions in the size of the corpus callosum and possibly the midbrain and vermal lobules VI-VII and VIII-X.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the end of this process, 44 studies were selected, each assessing patients with idiopathic autism (i.e., DSM-IV diagnoses of either Autistic Disorder, Asperger's Disorder or Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, PDD-NOS) and controls (Piven et al, 1995;Aylward et al, 1999;Haznedar et al, 2000;Hardan et al, 2000;Courchesne et al, 2001;Pierce and Couchesne, 2001;Aylward et al, 2002;Carper et al, 2002;McAlonan et al, 2002;Rojas et al, 2002;Sparks et al, 2002;Hardan et al, 2003;Herbert et al, 2003;Tsatsanis et al, 2003;Akshoomoff et al, 2004;Kates et al, 2004;Palmen et al, 2004;Schumann et al, 2004;Palmen et al, 2005;Vidal et al, 2006;Bloss and Courchesne, 2007;Girgis et al, 2007;Mostofsky et al, 2007;Tate et al, 2007;Cleavinger et al, 2008;Hardan et al, 2008;Freitag et al, 2009;Hallahan et al, 2009;Hardan et al, 2009;Scott et al, 2009;Bigler et al, 2010;Griebling et al, 2010;Jou et al, 2010aJou et al, , 2010bSchumann et al, 2010;Tamura et al, 2010;Tepest et al, 2010;Cheung et al, 2011;Hong et al, 2011;Calderoni et al, 2012;Greimel et al, 2012;…”

Section: 2study Selection Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Head circumference and brain size in autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Sacco

Gabriele

Persico

2015

Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging

207

153

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Macrocephaly and brain overgrowth have been associated with autism spectrum disorder. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to provide an overall estimate of effect size and statistical significance for both head circumference and total brain volume in autism. Our literature search strategy identified 261 and 391 records, respectively; 27 studies defining percentages of macrocephalic patients and 44 structural brain imaging studies providing total brain volumes for patients and controls were included in our meta-analyses. Head circumference was significantly larger in autistic compared to control individuals, with 822/5225 (15.7%) autistic individuals displaying macrocephaly. Structural brain imaging studies measuring brain volume estimated effect size. The effect size is higher in low functioning autistics compared to high functioning and ASD individuals. Brain overgrowth was recorded in 142/1558 (9.1%) autistic patients. Finally, we found a significant interaction between age and total brain volume, resulting in larger head circumference and brain size during early childhood. Our results provide conclusive effect sizes and prevalence rates for macrocephaly and brain overgrowth in autism, confirm the variation of abnormal brain growth with age, and support the inclusion of this endophenotype in multi-biomarker diagnostic panels for clinical use.

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“…For all whole-brain analyses, the cluster size needed to obtain a family-wise correction was determined using a standard fMRI package (AFNI AlphaSim, B. Douglas Ward, 2000). As ASD RS alpha anomalies have been reported in absolute and relative power (e.g., Coben et al 2008; Cornew et al 2012), alpha group differences were computed for absolute and relative alpha power. Absolute power and relative power are related but distinct, with group differences in absolute power indicating differences in the raw power spectra, and group differences in relative power indicating group differences in the distributions of power.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resting-State Alpha in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Alpha Associations with Thalamic Volume

Edgar

Heiken

Chen

et al. 2014

J Autism Dev Disord

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Alpha circuits (8–12 Hz), necessary for basic and complex brain processes, are abnormal in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study obtained estimates of resting-state (RS) alpha activity in children with ASD and examined associations between alpha activity, age, and clinical symptoms. Given that the thalamus modulates cortical RS alpha rhythms, associations between thalamic structure and alpha activity were examined. RS magnetoencephalography was obtained from 47 typically-developing children (TDC) and 41 children with ASD. RS alpha activity was measured using distributed source localization. Left and right thalamic volume measurements were also obtained. In both groups, the strongest alpha activity was observed in Calcarine Sulcus regions. In Calcarine regions, only TDC showed the expected association between age and alpha peak frequency. ASD had more alpha activity than TDC in regions bordering the Central Sulcus as well as parietal association cortices. In ASD, whereas greater left Central Sulcus relative alpha activity was associated with higher Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) scores, greater Calcarine region relative alpha activity was associated with lower SRS scores. Although thalamic volume group differences were not observed, relationships between thalamic volume and Calcarine alpha power were unique to TDC. The present study also identified a failure to shift peak alpha frequency as a function of age in primary alpha-generating areas in children with ASD. Findings suggested that increased RS alpha activity in primary motor and somatosensory as well as parietal multimodal areas—with increased alpha thought to reflect greater inhibition—might impair the ability to identify or interpret social cues. Finally, to our knowledge, this is the first study to report associations between thalamic volume and alpha power, an association observed only in TDC. The lack of thalamic and alpha associations in ASD suggests thalamic contributions to RS alpha abnormalities in ASD.

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Brief Report: Abnormal Association Between the Thalamus and Brain Size in Asperger’s Disorder

Cited by 32 publications

References 32 publications

Cortical-Cortical Interactions and Sensory Information Processing in Autism

Cortical-Cortical Interactions and Sensory Information Processing in Autism

Head circumference and brain size in autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Resting-State Alpha in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Alpha Associations with Thalamic Volume

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