Global and Regional Structural Differences and Prediction of Autistic Traits during Adolescence

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Frauke Nees - , Kiel University, Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Tobias Banaschewski - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Arun L.W. Bokde - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Sylvane Desrivières - , King's College London (KCL) (Author)
  • Antoine Grigis - , Université Paris-Saclay (Author)
  • Hugh Garavan - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Penny Gowland - , University of Nottingham (Author)
  • Yvonne Grimmer - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Andreas Heinz - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Author)
  • Rüdiger Brühl - , Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (Author)
  • Corinna Isensee - , University of Göttingen (Author)
  • Andreas Becker - , University of Göttingen (Author)
  • Jean Luc Martinot - , École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay (Author)
  • Marie Laure Paillère Martinot - , École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay, Assistance publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (Author)
  • Eric Artiges - , École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay, EPS Barthélémy Durand (Author)
  • Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Hervé Lemaître - , Université de Bordeaux (Author)
  • Argyris Stringaris - , National Institutes of Health (NIH) (Author)
  • Betteke van Noort - , Hochschule für Gesundheit und Medizin (Author)
  • Tomáš Paus - , University of Toronto (Author)
  • Jani Penttilä - , Tampere University Hospital (Author)
  • Sabina Millenet - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Juliane H. Fröhner - , Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Neuroimaging Center (Author)
  • Michael N. Smolka - , Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Neuroimaging Center (Author)
  • Henrik Walter - , University of Göttingen (Author)
  • Robert Whelan - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Gunter Schumann - , Trinity College Dublin, Humboldt University of Berlin, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Fudan University (Author)
  • Luise Poustka - , École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay (Author)

Abstract

Background: Autistic traits are commonly viewed as dimensional in nature, and as continuously distributed in the general population. In this respect, the identification of predictive values of markers such as subtle autism-related alterations in brain morphology for parameter values of autistic traits could increase our understanding of this dimensional occasion. However, currently, very little is known about how these traits correspond to alterations in brain morphology in typically developing individuals, particularly during a time period where changes due to brain development processes do not provide a bias. Therefore, in the present study, we analyzed brain volume, cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA) in a cohort of 14–15-year-old adolescents (N = 285, female: N = 162) and tested their predictive value for autistic traits, assessed with the social responsiveness scale (SRS) two years later at the age of 16–17 years, using a regression-based approach. We found that autistic traits were significantly predicted by volumetric changes in the amygdala (r = 0.181), cerebellum (r = 0.128) and hippocampus (r = −0.181, r = −0.203), both in boys and girls. Moreover, the CT of the superior frontal region was negatively correlated (r = −0.144) with SRS scores. Furthermore, we observed a significant association between the SRS total score and smaller left putamen volume, specifically in boys (r = −0.217), but not in girls. Our findings suggest that neural correlates of autistic traits also seem to lie on a continuum in the general population, are determined by limbic–striatal neuroanatomical brain areas, and are partly dependent on sex. As we imaged adolescents from a large population-based cohort within a small age range, these data may help to increase the understanding of autistic-like occasions in otherwise typically developing individuals.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number1187
Pages (from-to)1-14
Number of pages14
JournalBrain sciences
Volume12
Issue number9
Early online date2 Sept 2022
Publication statusPublished - 2 Sept 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0001-5398-5569/work/150329529
ORCID /0000-0002-8493-6396/work/150330252
PubMed 36138923

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • adolescents, autism spectrum disorder, autistic traits, social responsiveness, structural imaging

Library keywords