title: Brain organization underlying superior mathematical abilities in children with autism.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social and communication deficits. While such deficits have been the focus of most research, recent evidence suggests that individuals with ASD may exhibit cognitive strengths in domains such as mathematics.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cognitive assessments and functional brain imaging were used to investigate mathematical abilities in 18 children with ASD and 18 age-, gender-, and IQ-matched typically developing (TD) children. Multivariate classification and regression analyses were used to investigate whether brain activity patterns during numerical problem solving were significantly different between the groups and predictive of individual mathematical abilities.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children with ASD showed better numerical problem solving abilities and relied on sophisticated decomposition strategies for single-digit addition problems more frequently than TD peers. Although children with ASD engaged similar brain areas as TD children, they showed different multivariate activation patterns related to arithmetic problem complexity in ventral temporal-occipital cortex, posterior parietal cortex, and medial temporal lobe. Furthermore, multivariate activation patterns in ventral temporal-occipital cortical areas typically associated with face processing predicted individual numerical problem solving abilities in children with ASD but not in TD children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study suggests that superior mathematical information processing in children with ASD is characterized by a unique pattern of brain organization and that cortical regions typically involved in perceptual expertise may be utilized in novel ways in ASD. Our findings of enhanced cognitive and neural resources for mathematics have critical implications for educational, professional, and social outcomes for individuals with this lifelong disorder.
authors: Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: teresai1@stanford.edu.
authors: Teresa
authors: T
authors: Iuculano
authors: Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
authors: Miriam
authors: M
authors: Rosenberg-Lee
authors: Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
authors: Kaustubh
authors: K
authors: Supekar
authors: Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
authors: Charles J
authors: CJ
authors: Lynch
authors: Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
authors: Amirah
authors: A
authors: Khouzam
authors: Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
authors: Jennifer
authors: J
authors: Phillips
authors: Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
authors: Lucina Q
authors: LQ
authors: Uddin
authors: Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California; Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California; Program in Neuroscience, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
authors: Vinod
authors: V
authors: Menon
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: Autism; brain organization; cognitive strengths; mathematical abilities; multivariate pattern analysis; support vector machine
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