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Cortical myelination in toddlers and preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder
Author(s) -
Chen Bosi,
Linke Annika,
Olson Lindsay,
Kohli Jiwandeep,
Kinnear Mikaela,
Sereno Martin,
Müller RalphAxel,
Carper Ruth,
Fishman Inna
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
developmental neurobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.716
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1932-846X
pISSN - 1932-8451
DOI - 10.1002/dneu.22874
Subject(s) - autism , autism spectrum disorder , psychology , neuroscience , typically developing , precuneus , posterior cingulate , neurodevelopmental disorder , myelin , magnetic resonance imaging , audiology , functional magnetic resonance imaging , developmental psychology , central nervous system , medicine , radiology
Intracortical myelin is thought to play a significant role in the development of neural circuits and functional networks, with consistent evidence of atypical network connectivity in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, little is known about the development of intracortical myelin in the first years of life in ASD, during the critical neurodevelopmental period when autism symptoms first emerge. Using T1‐weighted (T1w) and T2w structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 21 young children with ASD and 16 typically developing (TD) children, ages 1.5–5.5 years, we demonstrate the feasibility of estimating intracortical myelin in vivo using the T1w/T2w ratio as a proxy. The resultant T1w/T2w maps were largely comparable with those reported in prior T1w/T2w studies in TD children and adults, and revealed no group differences between TD children and those with ASD. However, differential associations between T1w/T2w and age were identified in several early myelinated regions (e.g., visual, posterior cingulate, precuneus cortices) in the ASD and TD groups, with age‐related increase in estimated myelin content across the toddler and preschool years detected in TD children, but not in children with ASD. The atypical age‐related effects in intracortical myelin, suggesting a disrupted myelination in the first years of life in ASD, may be related to the aberrant brain network connectivity reported in young children with ASD in some of the same cortical regions and circuits.