Diffusion-weighted imaging evidence of altered white matter development from late childhood to early adulthood in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Fikret Işık Karahanoğlu; Bengi Baran; Quynh Trang Huong Nguyen; Djalel-Eddine Meskaldji; Anastasia Yendiki; Mark Vangel; Susan L Santangelo; Dara S Manoach

doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2018.06.002

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Diffusion-weighted imaging evidence of altered white matter development from late childhood to early adulthood in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Diffusion-weighted imaging evidence of altered white matter development from late childhood to early adulthood in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Fikret Işık Karahanoğlu, Bengi Baran, Quynh Trang Huong Nguyen, Djalel-Eddine Meskaldji, Anastasia Yendiki, Mark Vangel, Susan L Santangelo and Dara S Manoach

NeuroImage clinical, Vol.19, pp.840-847

2018

DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2018.06.002

PMCID: PMC6008282

PMID: 29946509

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Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is thought to reflect disrupted development of brain connectivity characterized by white matter abnormalities and dyscoordination of activity across brain regions that give rise to core features. But there is little consensus about the nature, timing and location of white matter abnormalities as quantified with diffusion-weighted MRI. Inconsistent findings likely reflect small sample sizes, motion confounds and sample heterogeneity, particularly different age ranges across studies. We examined the microstructural integrity of major white matter tracts in relation to age in 38 high functioning ASD and 35 typically developing (TD) participants, aged 8-25, whose diffusion-weighted scans met strict data-quality criteria and survived group matching for motion. While there were no overall group differences in diffusion measures, the groups showed different relations with age. Only the TD group showed the expected positive correlations of fractional anisotropy with age. In parallel, axial diffusivity was unrelated to age in TD, but showed inverse correlations with age in ASD. Younger participants with ASD tended to have higher fractional anisotropy and axial diffusivity than their TD peers, while the opposite was true for older participants. Most of the affected tracts - cingulum bundle, inferior and superior longitudinal fasciculi - are association bundles related to cognitive, social and emotional functions that are abnormal in ASD. The manifestations of abnormal white matter development in ASD as measured by diffusion-weighted MRI depend on age and this may contribute to inconsistent findings across studies. We conclude that ASD is characterized by altered white matter development from childhood to early adulthood that may underlie abnormal brain function and contribute to core features.

Brain - diagnostic imaging

White Matter - diagnostic imaging

Humans

Adolescent

Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging

White Matter - growth & development

Aging

Female

Male

Brain - growth & development

Autism Spectrum Disorder - diagnostic imaging

Child

Details

Title: Subtitle: Diffusion-weighted imaging evidence of altered white matter development from late childhood to early adulthood in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Creators: Fikret Işık Karahanoğlu - Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States. Electronic address: fkarahanoglu@mgh.harvard.edu
Bengi Baran - Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States
Quynh Trang Huong Nguyen - Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States
Djalel-Eddine Meskaldji - Institute of Bioengineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
Anastasia Yendiki - Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States; Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
Mark Vangel - Department of Biostatistics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
Susan L Santangelo - Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Maine Medical Center Research Institute, Scarborough, ME, United States; Tufts University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, United States
Dara S Manoach - Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: NeuroImage clinical, Vol.19, pp.840-847
DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2018.06.002
PMID: 29946509
PMCID: PMC6008282
NLM abbreviation: Neuroimage Clin
ISSN: 2213-1582
eISSN: 2213-1582
Publisher: Netherlands
Grant note: DOI: 10.13039/100000005, name: U.S. Department of Defense, award: AR100312P1; name: The Autism Consortium; DOI: 10.13039/100009152, name: Bertarelli Foundation; DOI: 10.13039/100000055, name: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, award: P50 DC 013027; name: Simons Center; DOI: 10.13039/501100001711, name: Swiss National Science Foundation, award: P2ELP2_158891; DOI: 10.13039/100000050, name: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, award: 5T32HL007901-1; DOI: 10.13039/100005294, name: Massachusetts General Hospital
Language: English
Date published: 2018
Academic Unit: Psychiatry; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984065376302771

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