White matter microstructural and morphometric alterations in autism: implications for intellectual capabilities.
Chun-Hung Yeh, Rung-Yu Tseng, Hsing-Chang Ni and 8 others
PMID 35585645WHAT IT FOUND
White matter differences in autism were driven almost entirely by participants with intellectual impairment or minimal verbal ability.
In intellectually able autistic adults, brain structure looked similar to controls. This suggests previous studies excluding these groups missed the main biological signal.
Key findings
01The ASD group as a whole showed smaller fiber density in the corpus callosum and cerebellum compared to controls, but these differences were not present when comparing intellectually able autistic individuals to controls.
02Nonverbal intelligence correlated with fiber bundle size in the cerebellum across both autistic and control participants.
03Executive function scores related to brain structure in opposite directions for autistic and control participants, specifically in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample size for the minimally verbal group was very small (7 participants), so findings specific to this group are preliminary. The study did not include a control group of people with intellectual impairment but without autism, so it is unclear if some brain differences are due to autism or general intellectual disability. Many participants were taking medication or had other psychiatric conditions, which can affect brain structure.
Declared interests
The authors declared no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume these brain differences apply to all autistic people. The structural changes were driven by those with intellectual impairment or minimal verbal ability; intellectually able autistic adults in this study looked similar to controls.