Longitudinal Volumetric Brain Changes in Autism Spectrum Disorder Ages 6–35 Years

Abstract

LAY ABSTRACT Since the impairments associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to persist or worsen from childhood into adulthood, it is of critical importance to examine how the brain develops over this growth epoch. We report initial findings on whole and regional longitudinal brain development in 100 male participants with ASD (226 high-quality MRI scans) compared to 56 typically developing male controls (TDCs) (117 high-quality scans) from childhood into adulthood, for a total of 156 participants scanned over an eight-year period. We provide volumetric growth curves for the entire brain, total gray matter (GM), frontal GM, temporal GM, parietal GM, occipital GM, total cortical white matter (WM), corpus callosum, caudate, thalamus, total cerebellum, and total ventricles. Mean volume of cortical WM was reduced significantly. Decreases in regional mean volumes in the ASD sample were most often due to decreases during late adolescence and adulthood. The growth curve of whole-brain volume showed increased volumes in young children with autism and subsequently decreased during adolescence to meet the TDC curve between 10 and 15 years of age. The volume of many structures continued to decline atypically into adulthood in the ASD sample. The data suggest that ASD is a dynamic disorder with complex changes in whole and regional brain volumes that change over time from childhood into adulthood. SCIENTIFIC ABSTRACT Since the impairments associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to persist or worsen from childhood into adulthood, it is of critical importance to examine how the brain develops over this growth epoch. We report initial findings on whole and regional longitudinal brain development in 100 male participants with ASD (226 high-quality MRI scans; mean inter-scan interval 2.7 years) compared to 56 typically developing male controls (TDCs) (117 high-quality scans; mean inter-scan interval 2.6 years) from childhood into adulthood, for a total of 156 participants scanned over an eight-year period. This initial analysis includes between one and three high-quality scans per participant that have been processed and segmented to date, with 21% having one scan, 27% with two scans and 52% with three scans in the ASD sample; corresponding percentages for the TDC sample are 30%, 30%, and 40%. The proportion of participants with multiple scans (79% of ASDs and 68% of TDCs) was high in comparison to that of large longitudinal neuroimaging studies of typical development. We provide volumetric growth curves for the entire brain, total gray matter (GM), frontal GM, temporal GM, parietal GM, occipital GM, total cortical white matter (WM), corpus callosum, caudate, thalamus, total cerebellum, and total ventricles. Mean volume of cortical WM was reduced significantly. Mean ventricular volume was increased in the ASD sample relative to the TDCs across the broad age range studied. Decreases in regional mean volumes in the ASD sample most often were due to decreases during late adolescence and adulthood. The grow...

Age-moderating effect in prepotent response inhibition in boys with Asperger syndrome: a 2.5 years longitudinal study

“…Similar findings of an age-moderating effect in prepotent inhibition tasks were shown in a metaanalysis, with younger individuals diagnosed with autism exhibiting poorer response inhibition in tasks such as the Go/No-Go test or the Stop signal test compared to adolescents and adults with ASD [12]. The dynamic nature of brain development in autism is also supported by some neuroimaging studies showing complex changes from childhood into adulthood in whole and regional brain volumes [13][14][15], patterns of functional connectivity [16], and white matter maturation [17].…”

Epilepsy and Autism

“…In parallel with these changes in volume in both gray and white matter (Lange et al 2015), imaging techniques have shown changes in brain connectivity as well (Chen et al 2011;Pina-Camacho et al 2012). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have consistently shown differences in individuals with autism compared with normal controls.…”

“…It is important to note that ASD is an evolving disorder and, like changes in regional brain volume Lange et al 2015), brain connectivity changes with age (Cheng et al 2010;Doyle-Thomas et al 2015). Therefore, it is extremely important that age and developmental stage be accounted for when evaluating functional connectivity in ASD.…”

Диференціальна Діагностика Макроцефалій (Мегаленцефалій) У дітей

“…У лонгітудному дослідженні встановлено, що середній загальний об'єм мозку у дітей з РАС помірно збільшується у ранньому ди-тинстві та згодом зменшується в дошкільному віці на від-міну від дітей, які нормально розвиваються. Зменшення загального об'єму мозку при РАС у пізньому дитинстві відбувається в основному через зниження росту обсягу білої речовини півкуль мозку [17].…”