The 'amygdala theory of autism' revisited: Linking structure to behavior
The 'amygdala theory of autism' revisited: Linking structure to behavior
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DOI：
10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.02.005
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发表时间：
2006-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
Convit, Antonio
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Dziobek, Isabel;Fleck, Stefan;Convit, Antonio
“自闭症杏仁核理论”表明杏仁核在自闭症谱系障碍的神经生物学基础中起着至关重要的作用。然而，到目前为止，缺乏证据表明杏仁核措施和自闭症患者的行为表现之间存在直接关系。因此，在17名成年个体与Alfreger综合征（AS）和17个匹配良好的对照组中，我们评估了MRI衍生的杏仁核体积与情绪识别和社会认知的行为变量之间的关联，以及与核心AS行为学之间的关联。结果显示，与对照组相比，AS患者在情感识别和社会认知方面表现出障碍，并且杏仁核体积与整体头部大小之间也表现出非典型关系。我们在对照组中发现了情感和社会理解与杏仁核体积之间的正相关，但在AS组中没有。然而，在AS组中，杏仁核大小与诊断参数呈负相关，较小的杏仁核体积涉及较高水平的限制重复行为域。我们的数据似乎表明，在AS杏仁核是不是至关重要的参与社会和情感的理解。然而，它可能是狭隘的利益模式和强加惯例和仪式的调解人。我们的数据，结合目前的文献，似乎主张修改的'杏仁核自闭症理论'。(c)2006爱思唯尔有限公司保留所有权利。
The 'amygdala theory of autism' suggests a crucial role for the amygdala in the neurobiological basis of autism spectrum disorders. However, to date evidence is lacking of a direct relationship between amygdaia measures and behavioral manifestations of autism in affected individuals. In 17 adult individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS) and 17 well-matched controls we therefore assessed associations between MRI-derived amygdala volume and behavioral variables of emotion recognition and social cognition, as well as with core AS symptomatology. Results revealed that individuals with AS exhibited impairments in emotion recognition and social cognition compared to controls and also showed atypical relationships between amygdala volumes and overall head size. We found positive associations between emotional and social understanding and amygdala volume in the control group, but not in the AS group. In the AS group however, amygdala size was negatively related to diagnostic parameters, with smaller amygdala volumes involving higher levels of restricted-repetitive behavior domains. Our data seem to indicate that in AS the amygdala is not crucially involved in social and emotional understanding. It may, however, be a mediator for narrow interest patterns and the imposition of routines and rituals. Our data, in conjunction with current literature, seem to argue for a modification of the 'amygdala theory of autism'. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.