White matter connectivity between superior temporal sulcus and amygdala is associated with autistic trait in healthy humans
White matter connectivity between superior temporal sulcus and amygdala is associated with autistic trait in healthy humans
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DOI：
10.1016/j.neulet.2012.01.029
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发表时间：
2012-02-29
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Nakai, Toshiharu
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Iidaka, Tetsuya;Miyakoshi, Makoto;Nakai, Toshiharu
越来越多的证据表明，自闭症的特征，如减少社会和沟通技能，存在沿着健康和病理条件之间的连续体。因此，在健康的人类受试者中，与自闭症倾向显著相关的神经解剖基质的功能和结构研究对于理解这种疾病至关重要。为了实现这一目标，我们进行了功能磁共振成像（fMRI）结合扩散张量成像（DTI）在30名健康的年轻受试者。受试者使用自闭症谱系商（AQ）进行评估，AQ旨在测量健康和自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）受试者的自闭症特征。面部特异性大脑激活的上级颞沟（STS）和杏仁核（AMG）被确定使用功能磁共振成像和被动观看的面孔。此外，通过使用DTI对每个受试者进行的概率纤维束成像显示STS和AMG中面部特定感兴趣区域之间存在白色物质通路。STS和AMG之间的连接量与总AQ评分呈正相关（斯皮尔曼rho = 0.38，p < 0.05）;然而，在AQ分量表中，只有想象力与连接量显著相关。这些结果表明，具有高度自闭症特征的健康受试者可能显示出连接涉及面部处理的关键区域的白色物质通路的增加。(C)2012爱思唯尔爱尔兰有限公司保留所有权利。
Growing evidence suggests that autistic traits, such as reduced social and communication skills, exist along a continuum between healthy and pathological conditions. Thus, functional and structural investigations of neuroanatomical substrates that significantly correlate with autistic tendency in healthy human subjects are critical for understanding this disorder. To accomplish this goal, we performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in combination with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in 30 healthy young subjects. The subjects were evaluated using the Autistic-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), which was designed to measure autistic traits in healthy and autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) subjects. Face-specific brain activation in the superior temporal sulcus (STS) and amygdala (AMG) was identified using fMRI and passive viewing of faces. In addition, probabilistic tractography performed in each subject by using DTI showed a white matter pathway between the face-specific regions of interest in the STS and AMG. The volume of connectivity between the STS and AMG correlated positively with the total AQ score (Spearman's rho = 0.38, p < 0.05); however, among the AQ subscales, only imagination was significantly associated with the connectivity volume. These results suggest that healthy subjects with high autistic traits may show an increase in the white matter pathway that connects key regions involved in face processing. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.