Tuesday, December 3 | 9:00 a.m.-9:30 a.m. | T2-SPNR-12 | Learning Center
MRI illuminates alterations in cerebral blood flow in children with autism spectrum disorder compared to neurotypical children, Italian researchers have found.
In this Tuesday morning presentation, Maria Claudia Macchia of the University of Chieti in Italy will share results from a study conducted with colleagues that showed differences between autistic children's brains and their neurotypical counterparts, particularly increased blood flow in areas related to somatosensory, cognitive, and language function.
Maccia's team compared global and regional cerebral blood flow and grey-matter volumes in 51 autistic children (diagnosed by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition) to 19 typically developing children using a pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling MRI sequence.
The team found that autistic children showed increased blood flow in the left inferior parietal lobule, the postcentral gyrus, the precentral gyrus, the superior parietal l, the supramarginal gyrus, the temporal pole, and the bilateral paracentral l. It also found that overall gray-matter volume of the autistic children was higher than that of their typically developing peers.
"There are differences in cerebral blood flow between individuals with autism [and those without] in specific areas, with hyperperfusion of areas related to somatosensory, cognitive and language function and hypoperfusion of areas involved to language function, which are not dependent on gray-matter volume," the investigators concluded. "Our results are partially consistent with previous studies and may … expand our knowledge on the autistic brain."
Check out this poster presentation at the Learning Center.
