Cortical Changes Across the Autism Lifespan.
Autistic people show lifelong gray-matter loss that grows with age and symptom severity.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Osipowicz et al. (2015) scanned brains of autistic and neurotypical people from childhood to old age.
They measured gray-matter volume across the whole brain.
The team also checked if autism severity or age linked to any brain differences.
What they found
Autistic brains had less gray matter in the thalamus, cerebellum, medial temporal, and orbitofrontal areas.
Lower volume showed up on both sides of the brain.
No brain region had more gray matter in the autism group.
The worse the autism traits, the smaller these brain areas tended to be.
How this fits with other research
Cauda et al. (2017) pooled many brain studies and saw that autism, schizophrenia, and OCD share some of the same gray-matter loss patterns.
That meta-analysis includes the Karol data, so the new wide age map strengthens the shared-pattern idea.
Duerden et al. (2012) reviewed 48 earlier scans and found white-matter problems in the corpus callosum and temporal tracts.
Karol now shows gray-matter loss in nearby temporal zones, suggesting both kinds of brain tissue change in autism.
Together the papers say structure differences are wide, stable, and track symptom severity across life.
Why it matters
You can tell families that brain differences in autism are lifelong and linked to symptom level, not a sign of poor therapy.
When you see plateauing skills in teens or adults, remember smaller gray-matter volume may sit under that flat line; adjust goals and add compensatory strategies instead of waiting for a growth spurt.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Although it is widely accepted that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves neuroanatomical abnormalities and atypical neurodevelopmental patterns, there is little consensus regarding the precise pattern of neuroanatomical differences or how these differences relate to autism symptomology. Furthermore, there is limited research related to neuroanatomical correlates of autism symptomology in individuals with ASD and the studies that do exist primarily include small samples. This study was the first to investigate gray matter (GM) changes throughout the ASD lifespan, using voxel-based morphometry to determine whether significant differences exist in the GM volumes of a large sample of individuals with ASD compared to age- and IQ-matched typical controls. We examined GM volume across the lifespan in 531 individuals diagnosed with ASD and 571 neurotypical controls, aged 7-64. We compared groups and correlated GM with age and autism severity in the ASD group. Findings suggest bilateral decreased GM volume for individuals with ASD in regions extending from the thalamus to the cerebellum, anterior medial temporal lobes, and orbitofrontal regions. Higher autism severity was associated with decreased GM volumes in prefrontal cortex, inferior parietal and temporal regions, and temporal poles. Similar relationships were found between GM volume and age. ASD diagnosis and severity were not associated with increased GM volumes in any region.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2015 · doi:10.1002/aur.1453