Morphological Alterations in the Thalamus, Striatum, and Pallidum in Autism Spectrum Disorder - PubMed (original) (raw)
Morphological Alterations in the Thalamus, Striatum, and Pallidum in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Manuela Schuetze et al. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2016 Oct.
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder with cognitive, motor, and emotional symptoms. The thalamus and basal ganglia form circuits with the cortex supporting all three of these behavioral domains. Abnormalities in the structure of subcortical regions may suggest atypical development of these networks, with implications for understanding the neural basis of ASD symptoms. Findings from previous volumetric studies have been inconsistent. Here, using advanced surface-based methodology, we investigated localized differences in shape and surface area in the basal ganglia and thalamus in ASD, using T1-weighted anatomical images from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (373 male participants aged 7-35 years with ASD and 384 typically developing). We modeled effects of diagnosis, age, and their interaction on volume, shape, and surface area. In participants with ASD, we found expanded surface area in the right posterior thalamus corresponding to the pulvinar nucleus, and a more concave shape in the left mediodorsal nucleus. The shape of both caudal putamen and pallidum showed a relatively steeper increase in concavity with age in ASD. Within ASD participants, restricted, repetitive behaviors were positively associated with surface area in bilateral globus pallidus. We found no differences in overall volume, suggesting that surface-based approaches have greater sensitivity to detect localized differences in subcortical structure. This work adds to a growing body of literature implicating corticobasal ganglia-thalamic circuits in the pathophysiology of ASD. These circuits subserve a range of cognitive, emotional, and motor functions, and may have a broad role in the complex symptom profile in ASD.
Figures
Figure 1
Effects of age on shape and surface area. Thresholded _t_-values for the effect of age on shape (left panel) and surface area (right panel) are overlaid on subcortical regions. For shape, cool colors indicate areas that take on a more concave shape over time, and warm colors indicate a more convex shape. For surface area, cool colors indicate areas that contract with increasing age and warm colors indicate an expansion.
Figure 2
Effects of diagnosis on thalamus surface area. Maps of _q_-values overlaid on the left and right thalamus. (a) Group differences in surface area were found for three clusters in the left thalamus; within the clusters, the peak vertex is indicated by a black cross. The figure inlay shows the surface area in mm2 for the peak vertex of left thalamus. (b) Group differences in surface area were found for two clusters in the right thalamus; within the clusters, the peak vertex is indicated by a black cross. The figure inlay shows the surface area in mm2 for the peak vertex of right thalamus.
Figure 3
Effects of diagnosis on thalamus shape. Maps of _q_-values overlaid on right thalamus. Group differences in shape were found for one cluster in right thalamus; within the clusters, the peak vertex is indicated by a black cross. The figure inlay shows the shape displacement for the peak vertex of right thalamus (negative values indicate a more concave shape, and positive values more convex shape).
Figure 4
Diagnosis-by-age interaction effects on shape in right pallidum and putamen. Maps of _q_-values overlaid on right pallidum and putamen. (a) Diagnosis-by-age interaction on shape was found in one cluster in right pallidum; within the clusters, the peak vertex is indicated by a black cross. The figure inlay shows the shape displacement for the peak vertex of right pallidum (negative values indicate a more concave, and positive values more convex shape). (b) Diagnosis-by-age interaction on shape was found in one cluster in right putamen; within the clusters, the peak vertex is indicated by a black cross. The figure inlay shows the shape displacement for the peak vertex of right putamen.
Figure 5
Effects of full-scale IQ (FIQ) on surface area and shape. (a) Thresholded _t_-values for effects of FIQ on surface area are overlaid on left and right thalamus and left pallidum. (b) Thresholded _t_-values for effects of FIQ on shape are overlaid on left striatum.
Figure 6
Effects of calibrated symptom severity (CSS) scores on surface area of the left thalamus. Maps of _q_-values for the main effect of diagnosis (as in Figure 2a) overlaid on the left thalamus. Effects of symptom severity on surface area were found for three clusters in the left thalamus; within the clusters, the peak vertex is indicated by a black cross. The figure inlay shows the surface area for the peak vertex of left thalamus.
Figure 7
Effects of restricted, repetitive behavior (RRB) scores on surface area for left and right globus pallidus. Maps of _q_-values overlaid on left and right globus pallidus. Effects of RRB scores as assessed with the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) on surface area were found in one cluster in bilateral globus pallidus; within the clusters, the peak vertices are indicated by a black cross. The figure inlay shows the surface area for the peak vertex of right globus pallidus. The relationship between surface area and RRB scores in left globus pallidus followed a similar slope and is not shown here.
References
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- American Psychiatric Association Diagnosticand Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5. American Psychiatric Association: Washington, DC, 2013.
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