title: The effect of age, sex and clinical features on the volume of Corpus Callosum in pre-schoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a case-control study.
abstract: A growing body of literature has identified volume alterations of the corpus callosum (CC) in subjects with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, to date very few investigations have been conducted on pre-school-age ASD children. This study aims to compare the volume of CC and its sub-regions between pre-schoolers with ASD and controls (CON) and to examine their relationship to demographic and clinical variables (sex, age, non-verbal IQ -NVIQ-, expressive non-echolalic language, emotional and behavioural problems, and autism severity). The volume of CC of 40 pre-schoolers with ASD (20 males and 20 females; mean age: 49 ± 12 months; mean NVIQ: 73 ± 22) and 40 sex-, age-, and NVIQ-matched CON subjects (20 M and 20 F; mean age: 49 ± 14 months; mean NVIQ: 73 ± 23) were quantified applying the FreeSurfer automated parcellation software on Magnetic Resonance images. No significant volumetric differences in CC total volume and in its sub-regions between ASD and CON were found using total brain volume as a covariate. Analogously, absence of CC volumetric differences was evident when boys and girls with ASD were compared with their matched controls. The CC total volume of younger ASD male subjects was found significantly larger with respect to matched CON, which is consistent with the atypical growth trajectory widely reported in these young children. The CC total volume was negatively correlated with autism severity, whereas no association between CC volume and other clinical variables was detected. If replicated, the indirect relationship between CC volume and autism severity suggests the involvement of CC in core ASD symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.|Pisa Division, National Institute for Nuclear Physics, Largo Pontecorvo 3, 56127, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giuliano
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Saviozzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health, Psychiatric Clinic, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.|Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brambilla
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.|Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Muratori
authors.affiliation: Pisa Division, National Institute for Nuclear Physics, Largo Pontecorvo 3, 56127, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5135-4472
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Retico
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Calderoni
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D012727:Sex Characteristics
keywords: Freesurfer; neurodevelopmental disorders; sex difference; structural MRI; young children