Archival ReportChanges in the Developmental Trajectories of Striatum in Autism
Section snippets
Participants
Ninety-nine, high-functioning individuals meeting DSM-IV criteria for autism were recruited through the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University Medical Center in Utrecht, the National Autism Society in the Netherlands, an outpatient clinic for individuals with pervasive developmental disorders, and through advertising. Diagnosis was clinically established by a child and adolescent psychiatrist from our department and was confirmed by trained and qualified clinicians
Group Differences in Brain Development
The primary multivariate analysis showed interactions between diagnosis and age for caudate nucleus volume (F = 12.8, p < .001) and lateral ventricle volume (F = 4.2, p = .042); there was a main effect of diagnosis on caudate nucleus volume (F = 7.5, p = .007) and a main effect of age on cerebellum, gray matter, white matter, nucleus accumbens, lateral ventricle, and total brain volume.
After including total brain volume as a covariate in the model, the interaction between age and diagnosis
Discussion
In this study, we report changes in the trajectory of striatal development in autism. Differences in caudate development were particularly striking, as the volume of this structure increased with development in autism, while it decreased in control subjects. Changes were not attributable to changes in overall brain volume or the use of neuroleptic medication and were localized to the head of the caudate nucleus. Furthermore, caudate volume was associated with severity of repetitive behavior
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