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Updated: Apr 15, 2026

Probing the Brain in Autism Using fMRI and Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Published on: September 12, 2011
Are Autistic Traits in the General Population Related to Global and Regional Brain Differences?
P Cédric M P Koolschijn1, Hilde M Geurts, Andries R van der Leij
1Dutch Autism & ADHD Research Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, koolschijnpcmp@gmail.com.
Abstract:
There is accumulating evidence that autistic-related traits in the general population lie on a continuum, with autism spectrum disorders representing the extreme end of this distribution. Here, we tested the hypothesis of a possible relationship between autistic traits and brain morphometry in the general population. Participants completed the short autism-spectrum quotient-questionnaire (AQ); T1-anatomical and DWI-scans were acquired. Associations between autistic traits and gray matter, and white matter microstructural-integrity were performed on the exploration-group (N = 204; 105 males, M-age = 22.85), and validated in the validation-group (N = 304; 155 males, M-age = 22.82). No significant associations were found between AQ-scores and brain morphometry in the exploration-group, or after pooling the data. This questions the assumption that autistic traits and their morphological associations do lie on a continuum in the general population.
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