summary: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have language impairment have decreased gray mass and increased gyrification in the temporal and frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex, which are important for language function. The findings of this study may help design professional education programs for children with autism by understanding the structural features that contribute to behavioral disorders.
sauce: HSE
Researchers from Russia and the United States link language impairment in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to lower amounts of gray matter and greater gyrification in the temporal and frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex. I discovered that These areas play important roles in language function.
Understanding the underlying structural features of behavioral disorders can help design special education programs for children with autism.
The paper summarizing the results of this research is scientific report.
Autism spectrum disorders are usually characterized by problems with social interaction and communication skills, and stereotyped behaviors. These symptoms are often due to genetic factors that affect nervous system development.
Children with ASD frequently experience language deficits ranging from mild language impairment to complete inability to communicate. These difficulties can be obstacles to effective communication and social interaction. However, the neurobiological underpinnings of these disorders remain poorly understood and existing data are inconsistent.
Researchers from HSE University, Moscow State University of Psychopeducation, and Seattle Children’s Research Institute investigated the association between structural brain abnormalities and language impairment in children with ASD.
A total of 36 school-age children participated in the study, including 18 children with ASD and 18 age- and sex-matched children who were usually developing controls (13 boys in each group). ) was included. A whole-brain structural MRI was obtained for each child and behavioral tests were utilized to measure language ability.
Structural MRI allows us to assess different anatomical features of the human brain, such as white and gray matter volume, cerebrospinal fluid, gyri depth, and gray matter thickness in different regions of the brain. to
Gray matter refers to the body of nerve cells, while white matter is made up of bundles of axons. The connections between these cells are covered with a myelin sheath.
When comparing structural MRI results of a group of children with ASD and a control group of typically developing children, researchers found no significant differences in the amount of white matter in any region of the brain.
In contrast, children with ASD showed significantly lower gray matter thickness and greater cortical gyrification compared with controls.
Further analysis reveals that children’s language ability is significantly correlated with gray matter thickness and gyrification of cortical regions critically involved in speech production, including the frontal and temporal lobes. became.
Given that gray matter differences were observed between ASD children and normally developing controls, it is possible that neuronal cell body growth mechanisms, rather than neuronal cell body connections, are disrupted in ASD children. can be inferred that there is
Children with ASD who had less gray matter in language-related areas showed more pronounced language deficits. Researchers also observed another related pattern: more significant gyrification, more severe autistic features.
“Our findings contradict the theory that early atypical brain development in children with autism normalizes by middle school age (ages 7-10).
“To determine the age at which the nervous system is likely to recover, it is important to consider school-age children and adults with ASD, as well as infants and preschoolers with ASD, because the developmental characteristics of the nervous system may differ.” Studies on the latter two groups are so far very limited,” said Alina Minnigulova, a junior research fellow at the HSE Center for Language and Brain.
According to the authors, identifying the specific structural features that underlie behavioral disorders may help design special education programs for children with autism.
About this autism and language research news
author: press office
sauce: HSE
contact: Press Office – HSE
image: Image credit to Neuroscience News and made with Dalle E2
Original research: open access.
“Association between structural brain abnormalities and language impairments in school-age children with autism spectrum disorder” by Vardan Arutiunian et al. scientific report
overview
Association between structural brain abnormalities and language impairments in school-age children with autism spectrum disorder
Language disorders are comorbid in most children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but their neural underpinnings are poorly understood.
Using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), this study compares both volume- and surface-based characteristics across the brain between groups of children with and without ASD, and in language-related regions. We investigate the relationship between these traits and language. Ability of children with her ASD measured with standardized tools.
A total of 36 school-aged children participated in the study. Eighteen were her ASD children and 18 were age- and sex-matched, normally developing controls.
Results revealed that multiple regions differed between groups of children in gray matter volume, gray matter thickness, girification, and cortical complexity (fractal dimension).
White matter quantity and sulcus depth did not differ between groups of children from any region. Importantly, gray matter thickness and gyrification of language-related areas were associated with language function in children with ASD.
Thus, the results of this study shed light on the structural brain abnormalities associated with language deficits in ASD.
