Common and unique multimodal covarying patterns in autism spectrum disorder subtypes.
Shile Qi, Robin Morris, Jessica A Turner and 6 others
PMID 33208189WHAT IT FOUND
Brain scans of three autism subtypes show shared activity patterns in the prefrontal and temporal lobes.
Each subtype also has unique differences in deeper brain structures that correlate with specific symptom severity scores. These patterns helped predict symptom scores in a separate group of patients.
Key findings
01All autism subtypes shared common brain activity patterns in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and superior/middle temporal gyrus.
02Each subtype had unique differences in subcortical brain activity, such as the putamen for Asperger’s, anterior cingulate cortex for PDD-NOS, and thalamus/amygdala/caudate for Autistic disorder.
03Brain patterns from one subtype could predict symptom scores in an independent sample of the same subtype, but not for the other subtypes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study only included male participants, so the findings cannot be generalized to females with autism. The participants were diagnosed using older DSM-IV criteria (Asperger’s, PDD-NOS, Autistic), which may not perfectly match current DSM-5 diagnoses. The data came from many different hospitals and research sites, which can introduce variability in how scans were taken. This is a cross-sectional imaging study, so it does not show how these brain patterns change over time or with treatment.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and other government agencies. No commercial conflicts of interest were reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these brain imaging patterns as diagnostic tools for individual patients. The study describes group-level differences in brain activity and structure, not clinical tests that can be used to diagnose or subtype autism in a therapy setting.