title: Fronto-limbic functioning in children and adolescents with and without autism.
abstract: We used neuropsychological tasks to investigate integrity of brain circuits linking orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala (orbitofrontal-amygdala), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus (dorsolateral prefrontal-hippocampus), in 138 individuals aged 7-18 years, with and without autism. We predicted that performance on orbitofrontal-amygdala tasks would be poorer in the Autism group compared to the Non-Autism group regardless of intellectual level (verbal mental age, VMA) and that performance on dorsolateral prefrontal-hippocampus tasks would be associated primarily with intellectual level. Predicted differences between Autism and Non-Autism groups on orbitofrontal-amygdala tasks were present but greater in individuals with higher VMA. On dorsolateral prefrontal-hippocampus tasks, poorer performance by the Autism compared to the Non-Autism group was found at all VMA levels. Group differences suggest both brain circuits are impaired in autism, but performance on all tasks is also associated with intellectual level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Medical School, Houston 77030, United States. katherine.a.loveland@uth.tmc.edu
authors.forename: Katherine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Loveland
authors.forename: Jocelyne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bachevalier
authors.forename: Deborah A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Lane
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008032:Limbic System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*