Functional Brain Center-The Wohl Institute for Advanced Imaging, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2011 Apr;32(4):534-43. doi: 10.1002/hbm.21042.
This study investigated white matter integrity in young children with autism using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Twenty-two children with autism, mean age 3:2 years, and 32 controls, mean age 3:4 years, participated in the study. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) revealed white matter abnormalities in several distinct clusters within the genu and body of the corpus callosum (CC), left superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) and right and left cingulum (Cg). TBSS-VOIs analysis was performed in the clusters where differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) were detected to investigate the relationship between changes in FA and diffusivity indices. In all VOIs, increase in FA was caused by a decrease in radial diffusivity (Dr), while no changes in axial diffusivity (Da) or mean diffusivity (MD) were observed. Tractography analysis was applied to further study the CC, SLF, and Cg. Witelson parcellation scheme was used for the CC. Significant increase in FA was seen in children with autism in the mid-body of the CC as well as in the left Cg. It is suggested that such abnormal white matter integrity in young children with autism may adversely affect connectivity between different brain regions and may be linked to some of the behavioral impairments apparent in autism.
本研究使用弥散张量成像（DTI）研究自闭症儿童的大脑白质完整性。22 名自闭症儿童，平均年龄 3 岁 2 个月，32 名对照组儿童，平均年龄 3 岁 4 个月，参与了本研究。基于束的空间统计分析（TBSS）揭示了胼胝体（CC）体部和膝部、左侧上纵束（SLF）和右侧及左侧扣带束（Cg）内几个不同簇的白质异常。在检测到各向异性分数（FA）差异的簇中进行 TBSS-VOIs 分析，以研究 FA 变化与弥散指数之间的关系。在所有 VOIs 中，FA 的增加是由于径向弥散度（Dr）的降低引起的，而轴向弥散度（Da）和平均弥散度（MD）没有变化。还应用轨迹分析进一步研究 CC、SLF 和 Cg。使用 Witelson 分区方案对 CC 进行研究。自闭症儿童 CC 的体中部和左侧 Cg 中 FA 明显增加。这表明，自闭症儿童早期的这种异常白质完整性可能会对不同脑区之间的连通性产生不利影响，并可能与自闭症中明显存在的一些行为障碍有关。
