Salmond C H, de Haan M, Friston K J, Gadian D G, Vargha-Khadem F
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Institute of Child Health, Mecklenburgh Square, London WC1N 2AP, UK.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2003 Feb 28;358(1430):405-13. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2002.1210.
Autism is a psychiatric syndrome characterized by impairments in three domains: social interaction, communication, and restricted and repetitive behaviours and interests. Recent findings implicate the amygdala in the neurobiology of autism. In this paper, we report the results of a series of novel experimental investigations focusing on the structure and function of the amygdala in a group of children with autism. The first section attempts to determine if abnormality of the amygdala can be identified in an individual using magnetic resonance imaging in vivo. Using single-case voxel-based morphometric analyses, abnormality in the amygdala was detected in half the children with autism. Abnormalities in other regions were also found. In the second section, emotional modulation of the startle response was investigated in the group of autistic children. Surprisingly, there were no significant differences between the patterns of emotional modulation of the startle response in the autistic group compared with the controls.
自闭症是一种精神综合征，其特征在于三个方面存在障碍：社交互动、沟通以及受限的重复行为和兴趣。最近的研究结果表明杏仁核与自闭症的神经生物学有关。在本文中，我们报告了一系列新颖的实验研究结果，这些研究聚焦于一组自闭症儿童杏仁核的结构和功能。第一部分试图通过体内磁共振成像确定个体杏仁核是否存在异常。使用基于体素的单病例形态计量分析，在一半的自闭症儿童中检测到杏仁核异常。还发现了其他区域的异常。在第二部分中，对自闭症儿童组的惊吓反应的情绪调节进行了研究。令人惊讶的是，与对照组相比，自闭症组惊吓反应的情绪调节模式没有显著差异。
