title: Preliminary findings suggest the number and volume of supragranular and infragranular pyramidal neurons are similar in the anterior superior temporal area of control subjects and subjects with autism.
abstract: We investigated the cytoarchitecture of the anterior superior temporal area (TA2) of the postmortem cerebral cortex in 9 subjects with autism and 9 age-matched typically developing subjects between the ages of 13 and 56 years. The superior temporal gyrus is involved in auditory processing and social cognition and its pathology has been correlated with autism. We quantified the number and soma volume of pyramidal neurons in the supragranular layers and pyramidal neurons in the infragranular layers in each subject. We did not find significant differences in the number or volume of supragranular or infragranular neurons in the cerebral cortex of subjects with autism compared to typically developing subjects. This report does not support an alteration of supragranular to infragranular neurons in autism. However, further stereological analysis of the number of cells and cell volumes in specific cortical areas is needed to better establish the cellular phenotype of the autistic cerebral cortex and to understand its clinical relevance in autism.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine and Shriners Hospital for Children of Northern California, 2425 Stockton BLVD, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine and Shriners Hospital for Children of Northern California, 2425 Stockton BLVD, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
authors.forename: Jasmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Camacho
authors.affiliation: Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine and Shriners Hospital for Children of Northern California, 2425 Stockton BLVD, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
authors.forename: Zachary
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Combs
authors.affiliation: Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine and Shriners Hospital for Children of Northern California, 2425 Stockton BLVD, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UC Davis, 4400V Street, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
authors.forename: Jeanelle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ariza
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UC Davis, 4400V Street, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
authors.forename: Mirna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lechpammer
authors.affiliation: M.I.N.D. Institute, UC Davis, 2825 50th St, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UC Davis, 2230 Stockton Bvld, Sacramento, CA 95817 USA.
authors.forename: Stephen C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Noctor
authors.affiliation: Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine and Shriners Hospital for Children of Northern California, 2425 Stockton BLVD, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UC Davis, 4400V Street, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; M.I.N.D. Institute, UC Davis, 2825 50th St, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA. Electronic address: vmartinezcerdeno@ucdavis.edu.
authors.forename: Verónica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Martínez-Cerdeño
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002452:Cell Count; D048429:Cell Size; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Autism; Human; Postmortem; Pyramidal neurons; Superior temporal cortex