Are Autistic Traits in the General Population Related to Global and Regional Brain Differences?

J Autism Dev Disord. 2015 Sep;45(9):2779-91. doi: 10.1007/s10803-015-2441-6.

Abstract

There is accumulating evidence that autistic-related traits in the general population lie on a continuum, with autism spectrum disorders representing the extreme end of this distribution. Here, we tested the hypothesis of a possible relationship between autistic traits and brain morphometry in the general population. Participants completed the short autism-spectrum quotient-questionnaire (AQ); T1-anatomical and DWI-scans were acquired. Associations between autistic traits and gray matter, and white matter microstructural-integrity were performed on the exploration-group (N = 204; 105 males, M-age = 22.85), and validated in the validation-group (N = 304; 155 males, M-age = 22.82). No significant associations were found between AQ-scores and brain morphometry in the exploration-group, or after pooling the data. This questions the assumption that autistic traits and their morphological associations do lie on a continuum in the general population.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Autistic Disorder / diagnosis
  • Autistic Disorder / epidemiology*
  • Female
  • Gray Matter / anatomy & histology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Organ Size
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • White Matter / anatomy & histology*
  • Young Adult