The tractography study of cingulated bundles in children and adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

Objective To compare the integrity of cingulate bundles with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developed (TD) children and adolescents, and further to investigate the relationship between eigenvalues of cingulate bundles and clinical symptoms of high-functioning ASD. Methods Thirty-four high-functioning ASD and thirty-nine TD children and adolescents , with age, gender and intelligent quotient (IQ) matched, underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) values in the bilateral cingulate bundles were compared using interactive tractography, respectively. Pearson correlation was used to investigate the association of cingulate bundle eigenvalues with scores of Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and Autism Interview Scale-Revised (ADI-R), as well as age and IQ in high-functioning ASD children. Results Compared with TD children and adolescents, FA value of the white matter cingnulate bundle in the right side was significantly higher in high-functioning ASD group (0.36 ± 0.03 vs. 0.34 ± 0.03, t=2.74, P<0.01). Moreover, FA values of bilateral cingulate bundles were positively associated with age (left side: r=0.42, P=0.02, right side: r=0.38, P=0.03), while MD values of left cingulate bundle was negatively correlated with age (r=- 0.44, P=0.01) in high-functioning ASD group. There was a significant positive correlation between the left cingulate bundle FA and age in TD group(r=0.35, P=0.03).There was no significant correlation between FA and MD values of bilateral cingulate bundle eigenvalues and scores of CARS, ADI-R and IQ. Conclusion The integrity of cingulate bundles may be abnormal in high-functioning ASD patients, which be related to age. Key words: Autistic disorder; Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging; Tractography; Cingulate bundle