Zeestraten, EA;
Gudbrandsen, MC;
Daly, E;
de Schotten, MT;
Catani, M;
Dell'Acqua, F;
Lai, M-C;
... Craig, MC; + view all
(2017)
Sex differences in frontal lobe connectivity in adults with autism spectrum conditions.
Transl Psychiatry
, 7
(4)
, Article e1090. 10.1038/tp.2017.9.
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Abstract
Autism spectrum conditions (ASC) are more prevalent in males than females. The biological basis of this difference remains unclear. It has been postulated that one of the primary causes of ASC is a partial disconnection of the frontal lobe from higher-order association areas during development (that is, a frontal 'disconnection syndrome'). Therefore, in the current study we investigated whether frontal connectivity differs between males and females with ASC. We recruited 98 adults with a confirmed high-functioning ASC diagnosis (61 males: aged 18-41 years; 37 females: aged 18-37 years) and 115 neurotypical controls (61 males: aged 18-45 years; 54 females: aged 18-52 years). Current ASC symptoms were evaluated using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). Diffusion tensor imaging was performed and fractional anisotropy (FA) maps were created. Mean FA values were determined for five frontal fiber bundles and two non-frontal fiber tracts. Between-group differences in mean tract FA, as well as sex-by-diagnosis interactions were assessed. Additional analyses including ADOS scores informed us on the influence of current ASC symptom severity on frontal connectivity. We found that males with ASC had higher scores of current symptom severity than females, and had significantly lower mean FA values for all but one tract compared to controls. No differences were found between females with or without ASC. Significant sex-by-diagnosis effects were limited to the frontal tracts. Taking current ASC symptom severity scores into account did not alter the findings, although the observed power for these analyses varied. We suggest these findings of frontal connectivity abnormalities in males with ASC, but not in females with ASC, have the potential to inform us on some of the sex differences reported in the behavioral phenotype of ASC.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Sex differences in frontal lobe connectivity in adults with autism spectrum conditions |
| Location: | United States |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1038/tp.2017.9 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/tp.2017.9 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Adolescent, Adult, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Case-Control Studies, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Female, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neural Pathways, Sex Factors, Young Adult |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Med Phys and Biomedical Eng |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10052820 |
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