title: In Vivo Evidence of Reduced Integrity of the Gray-White Matter Boundary in Autism Spectrum Disorder.
abstract: Atypical cortical organization and reduced integrity of the gray-white matter boundary have been reported by postmortem studies in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there are no in vivo studies that examine these particular features of cortical organization in ASD. Hence, we used structural magnetic resonance imaging to examine differences in tissue contrast between gray and white matter in 98 adults with ASD and 98 typically developing controls, to test the hypothesis that individuals with ASD have significantly reduced tissue contrast. More specifically, we examined contrast as a percentage between gray and white matter tissue signal intensities (GWPC) sampled at the gray-white matter boundary, and across different cortical layers. We found that individuals with ASD had significantly reduced GWPC in several clusters throughout the cortex (cluster, P < 0.05). As expected, these reductions were greatest when tissue intensities were sampled close to gray-white matter interface, which indicates a less distinct gray-white matter boundary in ASD. Our in vivo findings of reduced GWPC in ASD are therefore consistent with prior postmortem findings of a less well-defined gray-white matter boundary in ASD. Taken together, these results indicate that GWPC might be utilized as an in vivo proxy measure of atypical cortical microstructural organization in future studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences,  Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK.
authors.forename: Derek Sayre
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Andrews
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, M.I.N.D. Institute, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Avino
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences,  Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gudbrandsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences,  Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK.
authors.forename: Eileen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Daly
authors.affiliation: Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK.
authors.forename: Andre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marquand
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences,  Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK.|National Autism Unit, Bethlem Royal Hospital, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: Clodagh M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.|Child and Youth Mental Health Collaborative at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.|Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Meng-Chuan
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.|Department of Psychology & Center for Applied Neuroscience, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.
authors.forename: Michael V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Lombardo
authors.affiliation: Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Amber N V
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Ruigrok
authors.affiliation: Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK.
authors.forename: Steven C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Brain Mapping Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Edward T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Bullmore
authors.affiliation: The Medical Research Council Autism Imaging Multicentre Study Consortium (MRC AIMS Consortium) is a UK collaboration between the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College, London, the Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge, and the Autism Research Group, University of Oxford. The Consortium members in alphabetical order are as follows: Anthony J. Bailey (Oxford), Simon Baron-Cohen (Cambridge), Patrick F. Bolton (IoP), Edward T. Bullmore (Cambridge), Sarah Carrington (Oxford), Marco Catani (IoPPN), Bhismadev Chakrabarti (Cambridge), Michael C. Craig (IoPPN), Eileen M. Daly (IoPPN), Sean C.L. Deoni (IoPPN), Christine Ecker (IoPPN), Francesca Happé (IoPPN), Julian Henty (Cambridge), Peter Jezzard (Oxford), Patrick Johnston (IoPPN), Derek K. Jones (IoPPN), Meng-Chuan Lai (Cambridge), Michael V. Lombardo (Cambridge), Anya Madden (IoPPN), Diane Mullins (IoPPN), Clodagh M. Murphy (IoPPN), Declan G.M. Murphy (IoPPN), Greg Pasco (Cambridge), Amber N.V. Ruigrok (Cambridge), Susan A. Sadek (Cambridge), Debbie Spain (IoPPN), Rose Stewart (Oxford), John Suckling (Cambridge), Sally J. Wheelwright (Cambridge), Steven C. Williams (IoPPN), and C. Ellie Wilson (IoPPN).
authors.lastname: The Mrc Aims Consortium
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Universitätsklinikum Frankfurt am Main, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suckling
authors.affiliation: Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baron-Cohen
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences,  Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK.|National Autism Unit, Bethlem Royal Hospital, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences,  Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK.|National Autism Unit, Bethlem Royal Hospital, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: Declan G M
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences,  Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK.|Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Universitätsklinikum Frankfurt am Main, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ecker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: ASD; FreeSurfer; MRI; imaging; lamination