Autism

Imaging sex/gender and autism in the brain: Etiological implications

The male preponderance in autism prevalence has brought together the disparate topics of sex/gender and autism research. Two directions of neuroimaging studies on the relationships between sex/gender and autism may inform male-specific risk …

Impaired Communication Between the Motor and Somatosensory Homunculus Is Associated With Poor Manual Dexterity in Autism Spectrum Disorder

BACKGROUND: Fine motor skill impairments are common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), significantly affecting quality of life. Sensory inputs reaching the primary motor cortex (M1) from the somatosensory cortex (S1) are likely involved in fine motor …

Quantifying and exploring camouflaging in men and women with autism

Autobiographical descriptions and clinician observations suggest that some individuals with autism, particularly females, 'camouflage' their social communication difficulties, which may require considerable cognitive effort and lead to increased …

The EU-AIMS Longitudinal European Autism Project (LEAP): clinical characterisation

BACKGROUND: The EU-AIMS Longitudinal European Autism Project (LEAP) is to date the largest multi-centre, multi-disciplinary observational study on biomarkers for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current paper describes the clinical characteristics …

Alexithymia in children with and without autism spectrum disorders

Alexithymia refers to pronounced difficulty in identifying and describing one's own emotions and is associated with an externally oriented focus of thinking. Alexithymia is known to be much more common in adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) …

Atypically rightward cerebral asymmetry in male adults with autism stratifies individuals with and without language delay

In humans, both language and fine motor skills are associated with left-hemisphere specialization, whereas visuospatial skills are associated with right-hemisphere specialization. Individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) show a profile of …

Decreased centrality of cortical volume covariance networks in autism spectrum disorders

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by atypical structural and functional brain connectivity. Complex network analysis has been mainly used to describe altered network-level organization for …

Neuroanatomy of Individual Differences in Language in Adult Males with Autism

One potential source of heterogeneity within autism spectrum conditions (ASC) is language development and ability. In 80 high-functioning male adults with ASC, we tested if variations in developmental and current structural language are associated …

Relationship Between Surface-Based Brain Morphometric Measures and Intelligence in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Influence of History of Language Delay

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of conditions that show abnormalities in the neuroanatomy of multiple brain regions. The variability in the development of intelligence and language among individuals on the autism spectrum has long been …

White-matter relaxation time and myelin water fraction differences in young adults with autism

Background Increasing evidence suggests that autism is associated with abnormal white-matter (WM) anatomy and impaired brain ‘connectivity’. While myelin plays a critical role in synchronized brain communication, its aetiological role in autistic …