Autism as a disconnection syndrome: A qualitative and quantitative review of diffusion tensor imaging studies |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Neurosciences, Exp ORL, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium;2. Department of Radiology, University Hospitals of the Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium;3. Leuven Autism Research (LAURES) Consortium, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium;4. Department of Pediatrics, University Hospitals of the Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium;5. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK;6. Department of Heath Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland;7. Department of Neurosciences, Laboratory for Neuro- and Psychophysiology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium;8. Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium;9. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospitals of the Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium;10. Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA;11. Department of Clinical Genetics, University of Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands;12. Center for Developmental Disabilities, University Hospitals of the Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium;1. Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA;2. Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research Center, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China |
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| Abstract: | This review aims at evaluating the leading hypothesis of lower long-range and greater short-range cortical connectivity in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by the available literature on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies. DTI, coupled with tractography, assesses the structural connections between cortical regions and quantifies their white matter integrity. First, we provide an extensive qualitative overview of DTI findings in ASD. Next, to reveal convergence between studies, results are quantitatively analyzed using Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) and fibre tracking is performed to visualize the white matter tracts running through the obtained ALE clusters. Finally, findings from DTI research are related to specific symptoms characteristic of ASD. Overall, the qualitative analysis yields a widespread disruption of white matter integrity in the brain of individuals with ASD as compared to typically developing controls. This is the case for both the long-range and the local short-range connections, partially contradicting the leading hypothesis. However, several studies investigating very young children with ASD report greater structural connectivity, suggesting a developmental switch in white matter integrity in the ASD brain. Based on the combined qualitative and quantitative analysis, the corpus callosum and the ventral tracts emerge as particularly affected connections in individuals with ASD. |
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| Keywords: | Autism spectrum disorder Diffusion tensor imaging Review Brain connectivity Fibre tracking |
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