Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026
Probing the Brain in Autism Using fMRI and Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Published on: September 12, 2011
Larger brains in medication naive high-functioning subjects with pervasive developmental disorder
Saskia J M C Palmen1, Hilleke E Hulshoff Pol, Chantal Kemner
1Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. s.palmen@azu.nl
Background:
Are brain volumes of individuals with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) still enlarged in adolescence and adulthood, and if so, is this enlargement confined to the gray and/or the white matter and is it global or more prominent in specific brain regions.
Methods:
Brain MRI scans were made of 21 adolescents with PDD and 21 closely matched controls.
Results:
All brain volumes, except the white matter, were significantly larger in patients. After correction for brain volume, ventricular volumes remained significantly larger in patients.
Conclusions:
Patients showed a proportional, global increase in gray matter and cerebellum volume, and a disproportional increase in ventricular volumes. Thus, at least in high-functioning patients with PDD, brain enlargement may still be present in adult life.
