Cerebellar vermis lobules VIII-X in autism.
1. The aim was to investigate cerebellar vermis cross-sectional area in a group of high-functioning autistic children and normal control children. 2. Cerebellar vermis area measurements were completed on MRI scans from 8 autistic children (mean age 12.5 +/- 2.2, mean IQ 83.3 +/- 11.9) and 21 normal children (mean age 12.0 +/- 2.8, mean IQ 115 +/- 11). 3. The area of cerebellar vermis lobules VIII-X was significantly smaller in the autistic children than in the normal control subjects. ANCOVA demonstrated a confounding effect of IQ on these results. 4. Larger studies of autistic and normal subjects will be needed to assess the relationship between cerebellar abnormalities, autistic symptoms and IQ.
Levitt
J G
JG
Department of Psychiatry, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, USA.
Blanton
R
R
Capetillo-Cunliffe
L
L
Guthrie
D
D
Toga
A
A
McCracken
J T
JT
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000473:pathology*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012016:Reference Values