Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Corpus Callosum in Autism Spectrum Disorder

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Corpus Callosum

  • 200 Accesses

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a worldwide population prevalence of about 1%. The brain etiology is currently unknown, but genetics, developmentally early environmental factors, large-effect rare mutations, and small-effect common mutations all contribute to the risk. The structural and functional changes in the corpus callosum (CC) in ASD vary with the age and sex of those examined. The general hypothesis is that compared to typically developing children, children with ASD have early aberrant neuronal and axonal growth and proliferation followed by blunted developmental trajectories. Herein, specific findings will be discussed after a brief review of the clinical manifestations of ASD. Recognition of changes in white matter of the CC at or before the presentation of clinical ASD symptoms helps to achieve earlier diagnosis and ultimately earlier intervention.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Frazier TW, Hardan AY. A meta-analysis of the corpus callosum in autism. Biol Psychiatry. 2009;66(10):935–41.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Allouh MZ, Al Barbarawi MM, Ali HA, Mustafa AG, Alomari SO. Morphometric analysis of the corpus callosum according to age and sex in middle eastern Arabs: racial comparisons and clinical correlations to autism Spectrum disorder. Front Syst Neurosci. 2020;14:30.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Lai M-C, Lombardo MV, Baron-Cohen S. Autism. Lancet. 2014;383(9920):896–910.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Hofvander B, Delorme R, Chaste P, Nydén A, Wentz E, Ståhlberg O, et al. Psychiatric and psychosocial problems in adults with normal-intelligence autism spectrum disorders. BMC Psychiatry. 2009;9:35.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Lugnegård T, Hallerbäck MU, Gillberg C. Psychiatric comorbidity in young adults with a clinical diagnosis of Asperger syndrome. Res Dev Disabil. 2011;32(5):1910–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Lugnegard T, Hallerback MU, Gillberg C. Personality disorders and autism spectrum disorders: what are the connections? Compr Psychiatry. 2012;53(4):333–40.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Mattila ML, Hurtig T, Haapsamo H, Jussila K, Kuusikko-Gauffin S, Kielinen M, et al. Comorbid psychiatric disorders associated with Asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism: a community- and clinic-based study. J Autism Dev Disord. 2010;40(9):1080–93.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Simonoff E, Pickles A, Charman T, Chandler S, Loucas T, Baird G. Psychiatric disorders in children with autism spectrum disorders: prevalence, comorbidity, and associated factors in a population-derived sample. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2008;47(8):921–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Association AP. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, vol. 5. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2013.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  10. Woolfenden S, Sarkozy V, Ridley G, Coory M, Williams K. A systematic review of two outcomes in autism spectrum disorder–epilepsy and mortality. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2012;54(4):306–12.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Fingher N, Dinstein I, Ben-Shachar M, Haar S, Dale AM, Eyler L, et al. Toddlers later diagnosed with autism exhibit multiple structural abnormalities in temporal corpus callosum fibers. Cortex. 2017;97:291–305.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Wolff JJ, Gerig G, Lewis JD, Soda T, Styner MA, Vachet C, et al. Altered corpus callosum morphology associated with autism over the first 2 years of life. Brain. 2015;138(Pt 7):2046–58.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Courchesne E, Redcay E, Morgan JT, Kennedy DP. Autism at the beginning: microstructural and growth abnormalities underlying the cognitive and behavioral phenotype of autism. Dev Psychopathol. 2005;17(3):577–97.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Zhang Y, Qin B, Wang L, Zhang K, Song C, Chen J, et al. Corpus callosum volumes in children with autism Spectrum disorders: sex-associated differences. J Autism Dev Disord. 2022;53:2421.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Travers BG, do PM T, Adluru N, Lange N, Destiche D, Ennis C, et al. Atypical development of white matter microstructure of the corpus callosum in males with autism: a longitudinal investigation. Mol Autism. 2015;6:15.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Ben Bashat D, Kronfeld-Duenias V, Zachor DA, Ekstein PM, Hendler T, Tarrasch R, et al. Accelerated maturation of white matter in young children with autism: a high b value DWI study. NeuroImage. 2007;37(1):40–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Weinstein M, Ben-Sira L, Levy Y, Zachor DA, Ben Itzhak E, Artzi M, et al. Abnormal white matter integrity in young children with autism. Hum Brain Mapp. 2011;32(4):534–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Solso S, Xu R, Proudfoot J, Hagler DJ Jr, Campbell K, Venkatraman V, et al. Diffusion tensor imaging provides evidence of possible axonal overconnectivity in frontal lobes in autism spectrum disorder toddlers. Biol Psychiatry. 2016;79(8):676–84.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Wolff JJ, Gu H, Gerig G, Elison JT, Styner M, Gouttard S, et al. Differences in white matter fiber tract development present from 6 to 24 months in infants with autism. Am J Psychiatry. 2012;169(6):589–600.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Nordahl CW, Iosif AM, Young GS, Perry LM, Dougherty R, Lee A, et al. Sex differences in the corpus callosum in preschool-aged children with autism spectrum disorder. Mol Autism. 2015;6:26.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Mihrshahi R. The corpus callosum as an evolutionary innovation. J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol. 2006;306(1):8–17.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Badaruddin DH, Andrews GL, Bölte S, Schilmoeller KJ, Schilmoeller G, Paul LK, et al. Social and behavioral problems of children with agenesis of the corpus callosum. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2007;38(4):287–302.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Casanova MF, El-Baz A, Elnakib A, Switala AE, Williams EL, Williams DL, et al. Quantitative analysis of the shape of the corpus callosum in patients with autism and comparison individuals. Autism. 2011;15(2):223–38.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Hull JV, Dokovna LB, Jacokes ZJ, Torgerson CM, Irimia A, Van Horn JD. Resting-state functional connectivity in autism Spectrum disorders: a review. Front Psych. 2016;7:205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Just MA, Cherkassky VL, Keller TA, Minshew NJ. Cortical activation and synchronization during sentence comprehension in high-functioning autism: evidence of underconnectivity. Brain. 2004;127(Pt 8):1811–21.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Kana RK, Libero LE, Moore MS. Disrupted cortical connectivity theory as an explanatory model for autism spectrum disorders. Phys Life Rev. 2011;8(4):410–37.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Kana RK, Keller TA, Cherkassky VL, Minshew NJ, Just MA. Sentence comprehension in autism: thinking in pictures with decreased functional connectivity. Brain. 2006;129(9):2484–93.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Just MA, Keller TA, Malave VL, Kana RK, Varma S. Autism as a neural systems disorder: a theory of frontal-posterior underconnectivity. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2012;36(4):1292–313.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  29. Maximo JO, Cadena EJ, Kana RK. The implications of brain connectivity in the neuropsychology of autism. Neuropsychol Rev. 2014;24(1):16–31.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  30. Vasa RA, Mostofsky SH, Ewen JB. The disrupted connectivity hypothesis of autism Spectrum disorders: time for the next phase in research. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2016;1(3):245–52.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. Belmonte MK, Allen G, Beckel-Mitchener A, Boulanger LM, Carper RA, Webb SJ. Autism and abnormal development of brain connectivity. J Neurosci. 2004;24(42):9228–31.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  32. Mottron L, Dawson M, Soulieres I, Hubert B, Burack J. Enhanced perceptual functioning in autism: an update, and eight principles of autistic perception. J Autism Dev Disord. 2006;36(1):27–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Parikshak Neelroop N, Luo R, Zhang A, Won H, Lowe Jennifer K, Chandran V, et al. Integrative functional genomic analyses implicate specific molecular pathways and circuits in autism. Cell. 2013;155(5):1008–21.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Willsey AJ, Sanders Stephan J, Li M, Dong S, Tebbenkamp Andrew T, Muhle Rebecca A, et al. Coexpression networks implicate human Midfetal deep cortical projection neurons in the pathogenesis of autism. Cell. 2013;155(5):997–1007.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  35. Li J, Shi M, Ma Z, Zhao S, Euskirchen G, Ziskin J, et al. Integrated systems analysis reveals a molecular network underlying autism spectrum disorders. Mol Syst Biol. 2014;10(12):774.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  36. Contarino VE, Bulgheroni S, Annunziata S, Erbetta A, Riva D. Widespread focal cortical alterations in autism spectrum disorder with intellectual disability detected by threshold-free cluster enhancement. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2016;37(9):1721–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    William Smith

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Ochsner Medical Center, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Cuong C. J. Bui

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Tulane School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    R. Shane Tubbs

Authors
  1. William Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cuong C. J. Bui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. Shane Tubbs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to William Smith .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Aydın, Türkiye

    Mehmet Turgut

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Tulane School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    R. Shane Tubbs

  3. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Ankara Medipol University, Ankara, Türkiye

    Ahmet Tuncay Turgut

  4. Department of Neurosurgery, Ochsner Medical Center, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Cuong C.J. Bui

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Smith, W., Bui, C.C.J., Tubbs, R.S. (2023). Corpus Callosum in Autism Spectrum Disorder. In: Turgut, M., Tubbs, R.S., Turgut, A.T., Bui, C.C. (eds) The Corpus Callosum. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38114-0_32

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38114-0_32

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-38113-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-38114-0

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation