White matter microstructure in children with autistic traits

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is thought to arise from aberrant development of connections in the brain. Previous studies have identified differences in white matter microstructure in children with ASD, offering support to such hypotheses. While ASD is thought to represent the severe end of a spectrum of traits, there are no studies evaluating white matter microstructure in relation to autistic traits in children from the general population. In a population-based sample of 604 6-to-10 year-old children, we assessed the relation between a continuous measure of autistic traits and white matter microstructure, using both probabilistic tractography and Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS).

Source: Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging - March 28, 2017 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Laura M.E. Blanken, Ryan L. Muetzel, Vincent W.V. Jaddoe, Frank C. Verhulst, Aad van der Lugt, Henning Tiemeier, Tonya White Source Type: research