Executive function and functional and structural brain differences in middle-age adults with autism spectrum disorder

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
• Aging Studies

Background:

• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects a growing aging population with unique needs.
• Cognitive and brain function in older adults with ASD remains understudied.
• Previous research has not fully explored the long-term neurological and cognitive effects of ASD into middle and older age.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate cognitive and brain differences in middle-aged men with ASD compared to neurotypical (NT) men.
• To understand how aging impacts cognitive function and brain structure in adults with ASD.
• To identify persistent differences in brain networks and structures associated with ASD in aging individuals.

Main Methods:

• Combined functional and structural neuroimaging (fMRI, FreeSurfer) with neuropsychological testing.
• Utilized the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test for executive function, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test for memory, and Embedded Figures Task for visual search.
• Employed independent component analysis on fMRI working memory (n-back) tasks and FreeSurfer for hippocampal volume measurement.

Main Results:

• Adults with ASD made more errors on executive function tasks.
• No significant differences were found in delayed verbal memory or local visual search.
• Reduced engagement in cortico-striatal-thalamic-cortical networks during working memory tasks and smaller bilateral hippocampal volumes were observed in the ASD group.

Conclusions:

• Findings highlight persistent cognitive and structural brain differences in middle-aged adults with ASD.
• ASD is a lifelong condition with ongoing neurological variations into later life.
• These results contribute to understanding ASD aging trajectories and inform future longitudinal studies.