Abstract
The presence of widespread speech and language deficits is a core feature of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). These impairments have often been attributed to altered connections between brain regions. Recent developments in anatomical correlation-based approaches to map structural covariance offer an effective way of studying such connections in vivo. In this study, we employed such a structural covariance network (SCN)-based approach to investigate the integrity of anatomical networks in fronto-temporal brain regions of twenty children with ASD compared to an age and gender-matched control group of twenty-two children. Our findings reflected large-scale disruption of inter and intrahemispheric covariance in left frontal SCNs in the ASD group compared to controls, but no differences in right fronto-temporal SCNs. Interhemispheric covariance in left-seeded networks was further found to be modulated by verbal ability of the participants irrespective of autism diagnosis, suggesting that language function might be related to the strength of interhemispheric structural covariance between frontal regions. Additionally, regional cortical thickening was observed in right frontal and left posterior regions, which was predicted by decreasing symptom severity and increasing verbal ability in ASD. These findings unify reports of regional differences in cortical morphology in ASD. They also suggest that reduced left hemisphere asymmetry and increased frontal growth may not only reflect neurodevelopmental aberrations but also compensatory mechanisms.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the National Brain Research Centre for intramural funding as well as the Department of Science and Technology for funding a grant on autism research. We would also like to thank the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility for providing funds to facilitate the collaboration between the National Brain Research Centre and Montreal Neurological Institute. The authors would also like to thank Mr. Jitender Ahlawat (National Brain Research Centre, India) and Mr. T.R Abhilash, (National Brain Research centre, India) for technical assistance in data acquisition as well as all the members of the ACE lab at the MNI for all the help and assistance for data analysis. Finally, we would like to thank all parents and children who participated in our study. This work was supported by intramural funding from the National Brain Research Centre as well as short-term travel grant from the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility. None of the authors have any conflict of interest, financial or otherwise.
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Sharda, M., Khundrakpam, B.S., Evans, A.C. et al. Disruption of structural covariance networks for language in autism is modulated by verbal ability. Brain Struct Funct 221, 1017–1032 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-014-0953-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-014-0953-z