Altered functional organization within the insular cortex in adult males with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: evidence from connectivity-based parcellation.
Takashi Yamada, Takashi Itahashi, Motoaki Nakamura and 6 others
PMID 27713815WHAT IT FOUND
Brain scans of 36 men with autism showed a missing emotion-related section in the left insula and an enlarged sensory section in the right.
These structural differences may explain emotional and sensory difficulties, but they are not yet actionable for therapy.
Key findings
01The left insula in the autism group lacked a distinct sub-region associated with emotion and affect, which was present in the control group.
02The right insula middle ventral sub-region, associated with auditory and sensory functions, was significantly larger in the autism group.
03These brain organization differences were specific to the insula and not seen in a control visual brain region.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study only included adult males, so results may not apply to women or children. The method for determining the optimal number of brain sub-regions is not standardized and can vary between studies. Resting-state fMRI cannot directly prove what a brain region does; the functional labels are inferred from other studies. The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot show if these brain differences cause symptoms or result from them.
Declared interests
The research was supported by non-U.S. government funding. No commercial conflicts of interest are reported in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume these brain differences are a direct cause of symptoms or a target for treatment. The study shows an association in a specific group of men, but it does not prove that altering these brain regions would change clinical outcomes.