Common Cerebral White Matter Abnormalities Found in Children with Autistic Traits

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Brain Imaging Study Could Lead to Greater Understanding of Disease Correlations and Improved Diagnosis and Treatment

 

Structural abnormalities in the brain’s white matter match up consistently with the severity of autistic symptoms not only in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but also, to some degree, in those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who also have autistic traits.

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This is the finding of a new study, which highlights evidence supporting the theory that common, underlying brain mechanisms may be responsible for autistic traits seen in both diagnoses.

Led by researchers in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine, the new study focused on white matter—nerve bundles that transmit information between brain regions. Researchers say the link between symptom severity and white matter structural patterns was most evident in the region of the brain called the corpus callosum, which connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres and enables communication between them.

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