早期自闭症患者额叶皮质的局部增大。
Localized enlargement of the frontal cortex in early autism.
作者信息
Carper Ruth A, Courchesne Eric
机构信息
Center for Autism Research, Children's Hospital Research Center, and Neurosciences Department, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, California, USA.
出版信息
Biol Psychiatry. 2005 Jan 15;57(2):126-33. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2004.11.005.
BACKGROUND
Evidence from behavioral, imaging, and postmortem studies indicates that the frontal lobe, as well as other brain regions such as the cerebellum and limbic system, develops abnormally in children with autism. It is not yet clear to what extent the frontal lobe is affected; that is, whether all regions of frontal cortex show the same signs of structural maldevelopment.
METHODS
In the present study, we measured cortical volume in four subregions of the frontal cortex in 2-year-old to 9-year-old boys with autism and normal control boys.
RESULTS
The dorsolateral region showed a reduced age effect in patients when compared with control subjects, with a predicted 10% increase in volume from 2 years of age to 9 years of age compared with a predicted 48% increase for control subjects. In a separate analysis, dorsolateral and medial frontal regions were significantly enlarged in patients aged 2 to 5 years compared with control subjects of the same age, but the precentral gyrus and orbital cortex were not.
CONCLUSIONS
These data indicate regional variation in the degree of frontocortical overgrowth with a possible bias toward later developing or association areas. Possible mechanisms for these regional differences are discussed.
背景
行为学、影像学及尸检研究的证据表明，额叶以及其他脑区，如小脑和边缘系统，在自闭症儿童中发育异常。目前尚不清楚额叶受影响的程度；也就是说，额叶皮质的所有区域是否都表现出相同的结构发育异常迹象。
方法
在本研究中，我们测量了2至9岁自闭症男孩和正常对照男孩额叶皮质四个亚区域的皮质体积。
结果
与对照受试者相比，患者的背外侧区域年龄效应降低，从2岁到9岁体积预计增加10%，而对照受试者预计增加48%。在另一项分析中，与同龄对照受试者相比，2至5岁患者的背外侧和内侧额叶区域明显增大，但中央前回和眶皮质未增大。
结论
这些数据表明额叶皮质过度生长程度存在区域差异，可能偏向于较晚发育的区域或联合区域。讨论了这些区域差异的可能机制。
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