Volumetric alterations of the orbitofrontal cortex in autism

Girgis, Ragy R.; Minshew, Nancy J.; Melhem, Nadine M.; Nutche, Jeffrey; Keshavan, Matcheri S.; Hardan, Antonio Y.

doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2006.06.007

Cited by 90 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 35 publications

(36 reference statements)

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“…More importantly, impairment in object reversal learning also follows neonatal damage to the orbital frontal cortex in monkeys (see for review Goldman-Rakic, Isseroff, Schwartz, & Bugbee, 1983) suggesting that dysfunction of the orbital frontal cortex could occur in early infancy in people with autism. This proposal is supported by recent volumetric studies (Girgis, Minshew, Melhem, Nutche, Keshavan, & Hardan, 2007;Hardan, Girgis, Lacerda, Yorbik, Kilpatrick, Keshavan, & Minshew, in press) demonstrating decreased volume of the right lateral orbital frontal cortex (white plus grey matter) in people with autism, and in one of these studies (Girgis et al, 2007) the changes were correlated with social deficits.…”

Section: Tasks Measuring Functions Of the Orbitofrontal-amygdala Circuitmentioning

confidence: 59%

Fronto-limbic functioning in children and adolescents with and without autism

et al. 2008

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We used neuropsychological tasks to investigate integrity of brain circuits linking orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala (orbitofrontal-amygdala), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus (dorsolateral prefrontal-hippocampus), in 138 individuals aged 7 -18 years, with and without autism. We predicted that performance on orbitofrontal-amygdala tasks would be poorer in the Autism group compared to the Non-Autism group regardless of intellectual level (verbal mental age -VMA) and that performance on dorsolateral prefrontal-hippocampus tasks would be associated primarily with intellectual level. Predicted differences between Autism and Non-Autism groups on orbitofrontalamygdala tasks were present but greater in individuals with higher VMA. On dorsolateral prefrontalhippocampus tasks, poorer performance by the Autism compared to the Non-Autism group was found at all VMA levels. Group differences suggest both brain circuits are impaired in autism, but performance on all tasks is also associated with intellectual level.Recent human studies using behavioral and neuroimaging techniques, as well as studies using animal models, have provided numerous clues to the underlying structural and functional brain changes associated with autistic spectrum disorders (hereafter, autism). Children and adults with autism have been shown to have developmental abnormalities and functional impairment of the frontal lobe, medial temporal structures, and cerebellum, as reflected in histopathology, structural and functional neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and neuropsychological studies (see for review, Bachevalier & Loveland, 2003). However, because autism is developmental in nature, it is unlikely to be based in focal abnormalities of any single neural structure or region, but instead is more likely to be distributed in neural networks. Consequently, developmental brain abnormalities in autism would be expected to affect brain circuits and the interaction of brain regions both during behavior and over the course of development. Two Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript brain regions have repeatedly been implicated in autism: the prefrontal and medial temporal regions. These two regions are heavily interconnected and form two neural networks that appear to be critical for the monitoring of social cognition, executive functions, and episodic memory (see for review Bachevalier & Loveland, 2006).Based on the characteristics of their anatomical connections, the prefrontal-temporal network...

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Section: Tasks Measuring Functions Of the Orbitofrontal-amygdala Circuitmentioning

confidence: 59%

Fronto-limbic functioning in children and adolescents with and without autism

et al. 2008

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“…Thus, under these conditions, the current findings in high functioning children with autism may suggest impairments in voluntary or controlled orienting of attention. There is evidence in the autism literature to support the suggestion of impairments in the executive control of attention in autism (e.g., Geurts et al 2004;Goldberg et al 2005;Hughes et al 1994;Landa and Goldberg 2005;Ozonoff 1997;Ozonoff et al 1991Ozonoff et al , 2004Pennington and Ozonoff 1996) as well as differences in frontal lobe regions of the brain in individuals with autism (e.g., Bailey et al 1998;Carper and Courchesne 2000;Girgis et al 2007;Kemper and Bauman 1998;Ohnishi et al 2000;Zilbovicius et al1995). Posner (1988Posner ( , 1990 described three mechanisms involved in orienting attention on cueing tasks: attention must be disengaged from the current location, moved to a cued location, and then engaged in a target or stimulus at the new location.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Evidence for Impairments in Using Static Line Drawings of Eye Gaze Cues to Orient Visual-Spatial Attention in Children with High Functioning Autism

Goldberg

Mostow

Vecera

et al. 2007

J Autism Dev Disord

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We examined the ability to use static line drawings of eye gaze cues to orient visual-spatial attention in children with high functioning autism (HFA) compared to typically developing children (TD). The task was organized such that on valid trials, gaze cues were directed toward the same spatial location as the appearance of an upcoming target, while on invalid trials gaze cues were directed to an opposite location. Unlike TD children, children with HFA showed no advantage in reaction time (RT) on valid trials compared to invalid trials (i.e., no significant validity effect). The two stimulus onset asynchronies (200 ms, 700 ms) did not differentially affect these findings. The results suggest that children with HFA show impairments in utilizing static line drawings of gaze cues to orient visual-spatial attention. KeywordsEye gaze; High functioning autism; Orienting; Attention; Cueing NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptChildren with autism have abnormalities in three general domains of functioning: qualitative impairments in social interaction, impairments in communication, and the presence of restrictive, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities (APA 1994). Impairments in the quality of social interactions and social communication in children with autism may be related to deficits in the ability to understand the meaning of nonverbal behaviors that are for example, marked by changes in the direction of eye gaze. Children with autism appear to be able to discriminate the direction that eyes are gazing (Baron-Cohen et al. 1995). However, they show deficits in using eye gaze to infer information related to another person's mental states (e.g., desires, goals, Baron-Cohen et al. 1995). Children with autism are also reported to have deficits in using information provided by another person's change in eye gaze to look toward the same target in the periphery (Leekam et al. 1997). The purpose of the present study was to use a simple reaction time task to examine the extent to which children with HFA are able to utilize information provided by static line drawings of eye gaze cues to orient visual-spatial attention compared to TD children.Posner (1980) and his colleagues developed a cognitive-neuropsychological paradigm that has been used to examine processes that play a key role in visual-spatial attention. The paradigm can vary with regard to the type of cue that is used to direct attention to a location in the periphery (e.g., the brightening of a box in the periphery, a central arrow, eye gaze cue). Studies of healthy adults on "Posner-tasks" examining the effects of eye gaze cues on manual reaction time have shown that adults respond faster to targets appearing at gazed-at locations compared to trials on which eye gaze cues are directed to a location opposite to where the target appears (Friesen and Kingstone 1998;Hietanen and Leppänen 2003;Langton and Bruce 2000). These findings suggest that eye gaze cues can be used to orient visua...

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“…The OFC is also involved in stimulus-reinforcement association learning, including the association of olfactory stimuli and the primary reinforcement value of taste (67). Several groups have proposed dysfunction in OFC or OFC-amygdala circuitry in autism (18,68,69), and recent neuroimaging studies reported evidence of developmental abnormalities in OFC volume (70,71).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%