title: Autism spectrum traits in normal individuals: a preliminary VBM analysis.
abstract: In light of the new DSM-5 autism spectrum disorders diagnosis in which the autism spectrum reflects a group of neurodevelopmental disorders existing on a continuum from mild to severe expression of autistic traits, and recent empirical findings showing a continuous distribution of autistic traits in the general population, our voxel based morphometry study compares normal individuals with high autistic traits to normal individuals with low autistic traits. We hypothesize that normal individuals with high autistic traits in terms of empathizing and systemizing [high systemizing (HS)/low empathizing (LE)] share brain irregularities with individuals that fall within the clinical autism spectrum disorder. We find differences in several social brain network areas between our groups. Specifically, we find increased gray matter (GM) volume in the orbitofrontal cortex, the cuneus, the hippocampus and parahippocampus and reduced GM volume in the inferior temporal cortex, the insula, and the amygdala in our HS/LE individuals relative to our HE/LS (low autistic traits in terms of empathizing and systemizing) individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, Bioethics Institute Ghent, Ghent University Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Farah
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Focquaert
authors.affiliation: Lab for Clinical and Integrative Neuroscience, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Callier Center for Communication Disorders, The University of Texas at Dallas Dallas, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vanneste
keywords: VBM; autism spectrum disorders; empathizing; systemizing