Gray and white matter imbalance – Typical structural abnormality underlying classic autism?

Bonilha, Leonardo; Cendes, Fernando; Rorden, Chris; Eckert, Mark; Dalgalarrondo, Paulo; Li, Li Min; Steiner, Carlos E.

doi:10.1016/j.braindev.2007.11.006

« Previous Next »Brain and Development
Volume 30, Issue 6 , Pages 396-401, June 2008

Gray and white matter imbalance – Typical structural abnormality underlying classic autism?

Leonardo Bonilha
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, University of South Carolina, USA
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, 1621 Greene St., 6th Floor, Room 630B, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
- Corresponding author. Address: Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, 1621 Greene St., 6th Floor, Room 630B, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. Tel.: +1 803 777 9242; fax: +1 803 777 3081.
Fernando Cendes
- Department of Psychiatry, State University of Campinas, Brazil
Chris Rorden
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, 1621 Greene St., 6th Floor, Room 630B, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
Mark Eckert
- Department of Otolaryngology, Medical University of South Carolina, USA
Paulo Dalgalarrondo
- Department of Otolaryngology, Medical University of South Carolina, USA
Li Min Li
- Department of Psychiatry, State University of Campinas, Brazil
Carlos E. Steiner
- Department of Medical Genetics, State University of Campinas, Brazil

Received 14 June 2007; received in revised form 25 November 2007; accepted 26 November 2007.

Abstract

Recent evidence supports increased cortical activity and impaired brain connectivity in autism, but the structural correlates of these abnormalities are not yet defined. We performed a voxel based morphometry analysis of brain MRI from patients with autism selected from a group of 103 subjects with pervasive developmental disorders. Twelve male patients with mean age of 12.4±4 years were compared with 16 matched controls. Patients with autism exhibited increase in gray matter in medial and dorsolateral frontal areas, in the lateral and medial parts of the temporal lobes, in the parietal lobes, cerebellum and claustrum. Patients also showed decrease in frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital white matter. The combination of enlarged cortex and reduced white matter is possibly the structural basis of some symptoms of classic autism.