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Neufeld J, Maier S, Revers M, Reisert M, Kuja-Halkola R, Tebartz van Elst L, Bölte S. Reduced brain connectivity along the autism spectrum controlled for familial confounding by co-twin design. Sci Rep 2023; 13:13124. [PMID: 37573391 PMCID: PMC10423238 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-39876-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous studies on brain connectivity correlates of autism have often focused on selective connections and yielded inconsistent results. By applying global fiber tracking and utilizing a within-twin pair design, we aimed to contribute to a more unbiased picture of white matter connectivity in association with clinical autism and autistic traits. Eighty-seven twin pairs (n = 174; 55% monozygotic; 24 with clinical autism) underwent diffusion tensor imaging. Linear regressions assessed within-twin pair associations between structural brain connectivity of anatomically defined brain regions and both clinical autism and autistic traits. These were explicitly adjusted for IQ, other neurodevelopmental/psychiatric conditions and multiple testing, and implicitly for biological sex, age, and all genetic and environmental factors shared by twins. Both clinical autism and autistic traits were associated with reductions in structural connectivity. Twins fulfilling diagnostic criteria for clinical autism had decreased brainstem-cuneus connectivity compared to their co-twins without clinical autism. Further, twins with higher autistic traits had decreased connectivity of the left hippocampus with the left fusiform and parahippocampal areas. These associations were also significant in dizygotic twins alone. Reduced brainstem-cuneus connectivity might point towards alterations in low-level visual processing in clinical autism while higher autistic traits seemed to be more associated with reduced connectivity in networks involving the hippocampus and the fusiform gyrus, crucial especially for processing of faces and other (higher order) visual processing. The observed associations were likely influenced by both genes and environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janina Neufeld
- Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research; Department of Women's and Children's Health & Stockholm Health Care Services, Karolinska Institutet & Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Simon Maier
- Department for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Section for Experimental Neuropsychiatry, Medical Center University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Mirian Revers
- Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research; Department of Women's and Children's Health & Stockholm Health Care Services, Karolinska Institutet & Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Marco Reisert
- Department of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, Medical Center of the University of Freiburg, Medical Faculty, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Medical Physics, Medical Center of the University of Freiburg, Medical Faculty, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Ralf Kuja-Halkola
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ludger Tebartz van Elst
- Department for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Section for Experimental Neuropsychiatry, Medical Center University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Sven Bölte
- Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research; Department of Women's and Children's Health & Stockholm Health Care Services, Karolinska Institutet & Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
- Curtin Autism Research Group, Curtin School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
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