title: Studying Autism Spectrum Disorder with Structural and Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Survey.
abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modalities have emerged as powerful means that facilitate non-invasive clinical diagnostics of various diseases and abnormalities since their inception in the 1980s. Multiple MRI modalities, such as different types of the sMRI and DTI, have been employed to investigate facets of ASD in order to better understand this complex syndrome. This paper reviews recent applications of structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), to study autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Main reported findings are sometimes contradictory due to different age ranges, hardware protocols, population types, numbers of participants, and image analysis parameters. The primary anatomical structures, such as amygdalae, cerebrum, and cerebellum, associated with clinical-pathological correlates of ASD are highlighted through successive life stages, from infancy to adulthood. This survey demonstrates the absence of consistent pathology in the brains of autistic children and lack of research investigations in patients under 2 years of age in the literature. The known publications also emphasize advances in data acquisition and analysis, as well as significance of multimodal approaches that combine resting-state, task-evoked, and sMRI measures. Initial results obtained with the sMRI and DTI show good promise toward the early and non-invasive ASD diagnostics.
authors.affiliation: BioImaging Laboratory, Department of Bioengineering, University of Louisville Louisville, KY, USA.
authors.forename: Marwa M T
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Ismail
authors.affiliation: BioImaging Laboratory, Department of Bioengineering, University of Louisville Louisville, KY, USA.
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Keynton
authors.affiliation: BioImaging Laboratory, Department of Bioengineering, University of Louisville Louisville, KY, USA.
authors.forename: Mahmoud M M O
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Mostapha
authors.affiliation: BioImaging Laboratory, Department of Bioengineering, University of Louisville Louisville, KY, USA.
authors.forename: Ahmed H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: ElTanboly
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics and Biomedical Sciences, University of South Carolina Columbia, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Manuel F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Casanova
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Georgy L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Gimel'farb
authors.affiliation: BioImaging Laboratory, Department of Bioengineering, University of Louisville Louisville, KY, USA.
authors.forename: Ayman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: El-Baz
keywords: autism; diffusion tensor MRI; life stages; multi-modal approaches; structural MRI