Structural and functional correlates of a quantitative autistic trait measured using the social responsive scale in...

Behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been suggested to be considered as quantitative traits. This study investigated the structural and functional correlates of autistic traits measured using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) in neurotypical adolescents. Twenty-six neurotypical male adolescents (12-18 years old) were recruited for this study and underwent structural and resting functional magnetic resonance image scanning, and intelligence quotient and SRS evaluations. We used the automated surface-based method (FreeSurfer) to measure cortical thickness and seed-based functional connectivity (FC) analysis to derive the FC map of the dorsal anterior cingulate (dACC). Brain-wise regression analyses of cortical thickness and FC maps on SRS scores were performed using a general linear model. The results indicated that higher autistic trait ratings of total SRS scores were associated with a thinner cortex in the left insula, right insula, and right superior temporal gyrus. Furthermore, we observed that only higher scores of social awareness were correlated with increased FC between the dACC and right superior temporal gyrus and decreased FC between the dACC and right putamen and thalamus. These results indicated that a quantitative trait in social cognition is associated with structural and connectivity variations linked to ASD patients. Autism Res 2016, 9: 570-578. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.