Morphological cerebral asymmetries in autistic children

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Radiology

Background:

• Infantile autism is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder.
• Cerebral asymmetries are common in neurological conditions.
• Previous studies on brain asymmetry in autism have yielded mixed results.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate cerebral asymmetries in children with infantile autism using computerized tomographic (CT) scanning.
• To compare brain asymmetry patterns in autistic children with those of neurological patients and normal individuals.

Main Methods:

• 36 children with infantile autism and neurological disorders underwent CT brain scans.
• Neuroradiologist blindly assessed CT scans for frontal and parieto-occipital asymmetries.
• Techniques modified from published CT studies on cerebral asymmetries were employed.

Main Results:

• CT patterns of cerebral asymmetries in autistic children mirrored those in neurological patients.
• Autistic patients' brains exhibited greater symmetry compared to normal adults from previous studies.
• Increased brain symmetry was also observed in matched controls and dyslexic children.

Conclusions:

• The study identified similar CT-based cerebral asymmetry patterns in autistic and neurological pediatric populations.
• A notable finding was increased brain symmetry in autistic children compared to neurotypical adults.
• Further research is required to elucidate the neurobiological underpinnings of these observed brain morphology differences.