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Updated: Apr 1, 2026

Probing the Brain in Autism Using fMRI and Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Published on: September 12, 2011
Neurodevelopmental sequelae associated with gray and white matter changes and their cellular basis: A comparison
1The Brain and Mind Research Institute, University of Sydney, Australia.
Abstract:
Many psychiatric diseases, such as major depression and schizophrenia, are accompanied by patterns of gray matter and white matter changes in the cortex that may be due to structural pathologies of synapses and their dendrites in the gray matter on the one hand and to pathologies in myelinating oligodendrocytes on the other. Here the possibility has been briefly examined that such a generalization might also hold for Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Evidence is presented that gray matter changes that accompany ASD may in fact reflect changes in synapses and subsequently of their dendrites, whereas those in the white matter reflect changes in myelination due to pathologies of oligodendrocytes. It is proposed that such structural pathologies during development provide a coherent biological model not only for the onset and course of ASD but also provide the basis for development and systematic evaluation of new treatment strategies.
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