title: Linked alterations in gray and white matter morphology in adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: a multimodal brain imaging study.
abstract: Growing evidence suggests that a broad range of behavioral anomalies in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be linked with morphological and functional alterations in the brain. However, the neuroanatomical underpinnings of ASD have been investigated using either structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and the relationships between abnormalities revealed by these two modalities remain unclear. This study applied a multimodal data-fusion method, known as linked independent component analysis (ICA), to a set of structural MRI and DTI data acquired from 46 adult males with ASD and 46 matched controls in order to elucidate associations between different aspects of atypical neuroanatomy of ASD. Linked ICA identified two composite components that showed significant between-group differences, one of which was significantly correlated with age. In the other component, participants with ASD showed decreased gray matter (GM) volumes in multiple regions, including the bilateral fusiform gyri, bilateral orbitofrontal cortices, and bilateral pre- and post-central gyri. These GM changes were linked with a pattern of decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) in several white matter tracts, such as the bilateral inferior longitudinal fasciculi, bilateral inferior fronto-occipital fasciculi, and bilateral corticospinal tracts. Furthermore, unimodal analysis for DTI data revealed significant reductions of FA along with increased mean diffusivity in those tracts for ASD, providing further evidence of disrupted anatomical connectivity. Taken together, our findings suggest that, in ASD, alterations in different aspects of brain morphology may co-occur in specific brain networks, providing a comprehensive view for understanding the neuroanatomy of this disorder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, Showa University School of Pharmacy, Tokyo, Japan ; Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Itahashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan ; Kinko Hospital, Kanagawa Psychiatric Center, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Motoaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Bun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yamagata
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Daiki
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jimbo
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shioda
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan ; Child Mental Health-care Center, Fukushima University, Fukushima, Japan ; Department of Child Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Miho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuroda
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, Showa University School of Pharmacy, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Toriizuka
authors.affiliation: Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobumasa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research, Showa University, Tokyo, Japan ; Department of Language Sciences, Graduate School of Humanities, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryuichiro
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000473:pathology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D066127:White Matter / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Linked independent component analysis; Multimodal brain imaging; Tract-based spatial statistics; Voxel-based morphometry