Structural and functional correlates of a quantitative autistic trait measured using the social responsive scale in neurotypical male adolescents.
Behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been suggested to be considered as quantitative traits. This study investigated the structural and functional correlates of autistic traits measured using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) in neurotypical adolescents. Twenty-six neurotypical male adolescents (12-18 years old) were recruited for this study and underwent structural and resting functional magnetic resonance image scanning, and intelligence quotient and SRS evaluations. We used the automated surface-based method (FreeSurfer) to measure cortical thickness and seed-based functional connectivity (FC) analysis to derive the FC map of the dorsal anterior cingulate (dACC). Brain-wise regression analyses of cortical thickness and FC maps on SRS scores were performed using a general linear model. The results indicated that higher autistic trait ratings of total SRS scores were associated with a thinner cortex in the left insula, right insula, and right superior temporal gyrus. Furthermore, we observed that only higher scores of social awareness were correlated with increased FC between the dACC and right superior temporal gyrus and decreased FC between the dACC and right putamen and thalamus. These results indicated that a quantitative trait in social cognition is associated with structural and connectivity variations linked to ASD patients. Autism Res 2016, 9: 570-578. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, 112, Taiwan.|Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, 112, Taiwan.|Institute of Philosophy of Mind and Cognition, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Pei-Chi
PC
Tu
Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, 112, Taiwan.|Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Ju-Wei
JW
Hsu
Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Municipal Gandau Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Chen-Chia
CC
Lan
Department of Psychiatry, National Yang-Ming University Hospital, Yi-Lan, Taiwan.
Chia-Chien
CC
Liu
Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, 112, Taiwan.|Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Tung-Ping
TP
Su
Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, 112, Taiwan.|Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Ying-Sheue
YS
Chen
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D012919:Social Behavior
autism spectrum disorder; cortical thickness; functional connectivity; social responsive scale scores