Carman and Ann Adams Departments of Pediatrics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, MI, USA.
AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2011 Oct;32(9):1600-6. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A2557. Epub 2011 Jul 14.
Because we had previously observed geometric changes of frontal lobe association pathways in children with ASD, in the present study we analyzed the curvature of these white matter pathways by using an objective TBM analysis.
Diffusion tensor imaging was performed in 32 children with ASD and 14 children with typical development. Curvature, FA, AD, and RD of bilateral AF, UF, and gCC were investigated by using the TBM group analysis assessed by P(FDR) for multiple comparisons.
Significantly higher curvatures were found in children with ASD, especially at the parietotemporal junction for AF (left, P(FDR) < .001; right, P(FDR) < .01), at the frontotemporal junction for UF (left, P(FDR) < .005; right, P(FDR) < .03), and at the midline of the gCC (P(FDR) < .0001). RD was significantly higher in children with ASD at the same bending regions of AF (left, P(FDR) < .03, right, P(FDR) < .02), UF (left, P(FDR) < .04), and gCC (P(FDR) < .01).
Higher curvature and curvature-dependent RD changes in children with ASD may be the result of higher attenuation of thinner axons in these frontal lobe tracts.
由于我们之前观察到 ASD 儿童额叶联合通路的几何变化，因此在本研究中我们通过使用客观的 TBM 分析来分析这些白质通路的曲率。
对 32 名 ASD 儿童和 14 名典型发育儿童进行了弥散张量成像。通过 TBM 组分析评估多重比较的 P（FDR），研究了双侧 AF、UF 和 gCC 的曲率、FA、AD 和 RD。
与典型发育儿童相比，ASD 儿童的曲率明显更高，尤其是在 AF 的顶颞交界处（左侧，P（FDR）<0.001；右侧，P（FDR）<0.01），UF 的额颞交界处（左侧，P（FDR）<0.005；右侧，P（FDR）<0.03）和 gCC 的中线（P（FDR）<0.0001）。AF（左侧，P（FDR）<0.03，右侧，P（FDR）<0.02）、UF（左侧，P（FDR）<0.04）和 gCC（P（FDR）<0.01）的同一弯曲区域，ASD 儿童的 RD 也明显更高。
ASD 儿童的曲率和曲率相关 RD 变化较高，可能是这些额叶束中较细轴突衰减较高的结果。
