Age-variant and age-invariant features of functional brain organization in middle-aged and older autistic adults.
Joe Bathelt, P Cédric Koolschijn, Hilde M Geurts
PMID 31993112WHAT IT FOUND
Some brain aging patterns were similar in autistic and comparison adults.
A connection between brain regions active at rest weakened with age in comparison adults but not autistic adults. Social task scores did not differ by age or group.
Key findings
01Older age was associated with lower local efficiency in the default mode network and lower within-network connection strength.
02A right temporoparietal-to-posterior cingulate connection weakened with age in the comparison group but not in the autistic group, and this remained after controlling for cortical morphology and psychotropic medication.
03The Faux-pas social processing task showed no significant age, group, or age-by-group effects.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so age differences could reflect differences between age cohorts rather than aging in the same people. The analysed sample was 44 autistic and 45 comparison adults, after 7 autistic and 4 comparison participants were excluded for low-quality fMRI. All autistic adults received their diagnosis in adulthood, which may mean the sample had relatively mild autism symptomatology. Psychotropic medication use differed between groups and removed several brain findings when included in models. Cortical morphology controls also removed several age-related findings. Cardiovascular health was not assessed, and it can affect fMRI signals. Some age-related brain differences may reflect early dementia not detected by the cognitive measures used. The study cannot separate autism-related brain differences from differences in life experience associated with autism.
Declared interests
Funded by Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek and Amsterdam Brain & Cognition. No conflict-of-interest statement is present in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these brain network differences as evidence that autistic adults age faster or slower in cognition. The study was cross-sectional, several findings disappeared when medication or cortical morphology was controlled, and social task scores did not differ by age or group.