Neural correlates of language variability in preschool-aged boys with autism spectrum disorder.

Only boys were included, so the findings may not apply to girls with autism. The study did not include a language-matched typically developing group or a group with language impairment without autism, so it cannot say whether the brain-language links are specific to autism. The available typically developing controls were much more advanced in language, so they were not used, and conclusions are restricted to children with autism. Scans were acquired during sleep and some children were excluded for motion artifact; an MRI system upgrade also occurred, though it was controlled in the analysis. Language groups were assigned using raw language scores and some children with uneven receptive and expressive scores were placed in the Middle group, so group differences may partly reflect classification rules.

Do not read these brain-pathway differences as a reason to use MRI for language assessment or as proof that a treatment can change the pathway. The study compared boys with autism who already had different language levels and did not test therapy.