title: Widespread White Matter Differences in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
abstract: Diffusion tensor imaging studies show white matter (WM) abnormalities in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, investigations are often limited by small samples, particularly problematic given the heterogeneity of ASD. We explored WM using DTI in a large sample of 130 children and adolescents (7-15 years) with and without ASD, whether age-related changes differed between ASD and control groups, and the relation between DTI measures and ASD symptomatology. Reduced fractional anisotropy and axial diffusivity were observed in ASD in numerous WM tracts, including the corpus callosum and thalamocortical fibres-tracts crucial for interhemispheric connectivity and higher order information processing. Widespread WM compromise in ASD is consistent with the view that ASD is a disorder of generalized complex information processing.
authors.affiliation: Hospital for Sick Children, Diagnostic Imaging, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada. vanessa.vogan@sickkids.ca.|Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, Toronto, ON, Canada. vanessa.vogan@sickkids.ca.
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Vogan
authors.affiliation: Hospital for Sick Children, Diagnostic Imaging, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada.
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.affiliation: Hospital for Sick Children, Diagnostic Imaging, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada.|Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.affiliation: Bloorview Research Institute, Holland-Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, 150 Kilgour Road, Toronto, ON, M4G 1R8, Canada.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Anagnostou
authors.affiliation: Bloorview Research Institute, Holland-Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, 150 Kilgour Road, Toronto, ON, M4G 1R8, Canada.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Doyle-Thomas
authors.affiliation: Hospital for Sick Children, Diagnostic Imaging, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada.|Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, Toronto, ON, Canada.|Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Taylor
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016880:Anisotropy; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002648:Child; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
keywords: Autism; Development; Diffusion tensor imaging; White matter