title: Anatomy and aging of the amygdala and hippocampus in autism spectrum disorder: an in vivo magnetic resonance imaging study of Asperger syndrome.
abstract: It has been proposed that people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have abnormal morphometry and development of the amygdala and hippocampus (AH). However, previous reports are inconsistent, perhaps because they included people of different ASD diagnoses, ages, and health. We compared, using magnetic resonance imaging, the in vivo anatomy of the AH in 32 healthy individuals with Asperger syndrome (12-47 years) and 32 healthy controls who did not differ significantly in age or IQ. We measured bulk (gray + white matter) volume of the AH using manual tracing (MEASURE). We first compared the volume of AH between individuals with Asperger syndrome and controls and then investigated age-related differences. We compared differences in anatomy before, and after, correcting for whole brain size. There was no significant between group differences in whole brain volume. However, individuals with Asperger syndrome had a significantly larger raw bulk volume of total (P<0.01), right (P<0.01), and left amygdala (P<0.05); and when corrected for overall brain size, total (P<0.05), and right amygdala (P<0.01). There was a significant group difference in aging of left amygdala; controls, but not individuals with Asperger syndrome, had a significant age-related increase in volume (r = 0.486, P<0.01, and r = 0.007, P = 0.97, z = 1.995). There were no significant group differences in volume or age-related effects in hippocampus. Individuals with Asperger syndrome have significant differences from controls in bulk volume and aging of the amygdala.
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Science, London, United Kingdom. clodagh.m.murphy@kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Clodagh M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Deeley
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Daly
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ecker
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hallahan
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Loth
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Toal
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hales
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mullins
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Barker
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lavender
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging; D000679:Amygdala / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology*; D020817:Asperger Syndrome / Q000473:pathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000473:pathology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult