Reduced Hemispheric Asymmetry of White Matter Microstructure in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

<bold>Objective: </bold>Many past studies have suggested atypical functional and anatomical hemispheric asymmetries in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, almost all of these have examined only language-related asymmetries. Here, we conduct a comprehensive investigation of microstructural asymm...

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Published in:Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Vol. 55; no. 12; pp. 1073 - 1081
Main Authors: Carper, Ruth A., DeJesus, Shannon Yandall, Müller, Ralph-Axel, Treiber, Jeffrey M.
Format: journal article
Published: Elsevier B.V. Dec2016
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Dec2016
      vid: 55
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      pub: Elsevier B.V.
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        119583488
        10.1016/j.jaac.2016.09.491
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        atl: Reduced Hemispheric Asymmetry of White Matter Microstructure in Autism Spectrum Disorder.
      aug:
        au:
          Carper, Ruth A.
          DeJesus, Shannon Yandall
          Müller, Ralph-Axel
          Treiber, Jeffrey M.
        affil:
          Brain Development Imaging Laboratory at San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
          School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego
      su:
        Autism spectrum disorders
        Language disorders
        Psychology
        White matter (Nerve tissue)
        Brain function localization
        Anisotropy
        Brain
        Cerebral dominance
        Magnetic resonance imaging
        Research funding
      sug:
        subj:
          Autism spectrum disorders
          Language disorders
          Psychology
          Diagnostic Imaging Centers
          White matter (Nerve tissue)
          Brain function localization
          Anisotropy
          Brain
          Cerebral dominance
          Magnetic resonance imaging
          Research funding
      keyword:
        asymmetry
        autism
        diffusion tensor imaging
        MRI
        white matter
        asymmetry
        autism
        diffusion tensor imaging
        MRI
        white matter
      ab: <bold>Objective: </bold>Many past studies have suggested atypical functional and anatomical hemispheric asymmetries in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, almost all of these have examined only language-related asymmetries. Here, we conduct a comprehensive investigation of microstructural asymmetries across a large number of fiber tracts in ASD.<bold>Method: </bold>We used diffusion tensor imaging for a comprehensive investigation of anatomical white matter asymmetries across the entire white matter skeleton, using tract-based spatial statistics in 41 children and adolescents with ASD and a matched group of 44 typically developing (TD) participants.<bold>Results: </bold>We found significant asymmetries in the TD group, being rightward for fractional anisotropy and leftward for mean diffusivity (with concordant asymmetries for radial and axial diffusivity). These asymmetries were significantly reduced in the group with ASD: in whole brain analysis for fractional anisotropy, and in a region where several major association and projection tracts travel in close proximity within occipital white matter for mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity. No correlations between global white matter asymmetry and age or socio-communicative abilities were detected.<bold>Conclusion: </bold>Our findings in TD children and adolescents can be interpreted as reflecting different processing modes (more integrative in the right and more specialized in the left hemisphere). These asymmetries and the "division of labor" between hemispheres implied by them appear to be diminished in autism spectrum disorder.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: journal article
      src: R
    language: English
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