MRI Surface-Based Brain Morphometry in Egyptian Autistic and Typically Developing Children.

OBJECTIVES

The verbal abilities of autistic children differ from those of typically developing ones and they also differ among autistic children themselves. Neuroanatomical changes and an abnormal organization of functional networks are expected to accompany such a neurodevelopmental disorder. The aim of this study was to delineate the brain neuroanatomical changes in Egyptian children with autism and to compare them with previous studies in order to add more insight into the global brain imaging deviations linked to autism.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Twenty-five autistic children and 25 typically developing children underwent MRI. Further analysis was performed using surface-based morphometry to obtain cortical thickness, brain volume, and cortical complexity.

RESULTS

MRI analysis results revealed significantly greater cortical thickness, cortical complexity, and gray matter volume in the autistic as compared to the control group. On the other hand, the white matter volume was significantly smaller.

CONCLUSION

These findings generally align with findings in previous studies, except for occasional differences.