Dissociating regional gray matter density and gray matter volume in autism spectrum condition

Background: Despite decades of research, there is continued uncertainty regarding whether autism is associated with a specific profile of gray matter (GM) structure. This inconsistency may stem from the widespread use of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) methods that combine indices of GM density and GM...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Lisa D. Yankowitz, Benjamin E. Yerys, John D. Herrington, Juhi Pandey, Robert T. Schultz
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Elsevier 2021
Materias:	Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics R858-859.7 Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system RC346-429
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/5bb17f2f6329490e86cbc7cdec5b3f00
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:5bb17f2f6329490e86cbc7cdec5b3f00
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:5bb17f2f6329490e86cbc7cdec5b3f002021-11-26T04:28:53ZDissociating regional gray matter density and gray matter volume in autism spectrum condition2213-158210.1016/j.nicl.2021.102888https://doaj.org/article/5bb17f2f6329490e86cbc7cdec5b3f002021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158221003326https://doaj.org/toc/2213-1582Background: Despite decades of research, there is continued uncertainty regarding whether autism is associated with a specific profile of gray matter (GM) structure. This inconsistency may stem from the widespread use of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) methods that combine indices of GM density and GM volume. If GM density or volume, but not both, prove different in autism, the traditional VBM approach of combining the two indices may obscure the difference. The present study measures GM density and volume separately to examine whether autism is associated with alterations in GM volume, density, or both. Methods: Differences in MRI-based GM density and volume were examined in 6–25 year-olds with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (n = 213, 80.8% male, IQ 47–154) and a typically developing (TD) sample (n = 190, 71.6% male, IQ 67–155). High-resolution T1-weighted anatomical images were collected on a single MRI scanner. Regional density and volume were estimated via whole-brain parcellation comprised of 1625 parcels. Parcel-wise analyses were conducted using generalized additive models while controlling the false discovery rate (FDR, q < 0.05). Volume differences in the 68-region Desikan-Killiany atlas derived from Freesurfer were also examined, to establish the generalizability of findings across methods. Results: No density differences were observed between the autistic and TD groups, either in individual parcels or whole brain mean density. Increased volume was observed in autism compared to the TD group when controlling for Age, Sex, and IQ, both at the level of the whole brain (total volume) and in 45 parcels (2.8% of total parcels). Parcels with greater volume included inferior, middle, and superior temporal gyrus, inferior and superior frontal gyrus, precuneus, and fusiform gyrus. Converging evidence from a standard Freesurfer pipeline also identified greater volume in a number of overlapping regions. Limitations: The method for determining “density” is not a direct measure of neuronal density, and this study cannot reveal underlying cellular differences. While this study represents possibly the largest single-site sample of its kind, it is underpowered to detect very small differences. Conclusions: These results provide compelling evidence that autism is associated with regional GM volumetric differences, which are more prominent than density differences. This underscores the importance of examining volume and density separately, and suggests that direct measures of volume (e.g. region-of-interest or tensor-based morphometry approaches) may be more sensitive to autism-relevant differences in neuroanatomy than concentration/density-based approaches.Lisa D. YankowitzBenjamin E. YerysJohn D. HerringtonJuhi PandeyRobert T. SchultzElsevierarticleComputer applications to medicine. Medical informaticsR858-859.7Neurology. Diseases of the nervous systemRC346-429ENNeuroImage: Clinical, Vol 32, Iss , Pp 102888- (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics R858-859.7 Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system RC346-429
spellingShingle	Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics R858-859.7 Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system RC346-429 Lisa D. Yankowitz Benjamin E. Yerys John D. Herrington Juhi Pandey Robert T. Schultz Dissociating regional gray matter density and gray matter volume in autism spectrum condition
description	Background: Despite decades of research, there is continued uncertainty regarding whether autism is associated with a specific profile of gray matter (GM) structure. This inconsistency may stem from the widespread use of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) methods that combine indices of GM density and GM volume. If GM density or volume, but not both, prove different in autism, the traditional VBM approach of combining the two indices may obscure the difference. The present study measures GM density and volume separately to examine whether autism is associated with alterations in GM volume, density, or both. Methods: Differences in MRI-based GM density and volume were examined in 6–25 year-olds with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (n = 213, 80.8% male, IQ 47–154) and a typically developing (TD) sample (n = 190, 71.6% male, IQ 67–155). High-resolution T1-weighted anatomical images were collected on a single MRI scanner. Regional density and volume were estimated via whole-brain parcellation comprised of 1625 parcels. Parcel-wise analyses were conducted using generalized additive models while controlling the false discovery rate (FDR, q < 0.05). Volume differences in the 68-region Desikan-Killiany atlas derived from Freesurfer were also examined, to establish the generalizability of findings across methods. Results: No density differences were observed between the autistic and TD groups, either in individual parcels or whole brain mean density. Increased volume was observed in autism compared to the TD group when controlling for Age, Sex, and IQ, both at the level of the whole brain (total volume) and in 45 parcels (2.8% of total parcels). Parcels with greater volume included inferior, middle, and superior temporal gyrus, inferior and superior frontal gyrus, precuneus, and fusiform gyrus. Converging evidence from a standard Freesurfer pipeline also identified greater volume in a number of overlapping regions. Limitations: The method for determining “density” is not a direct measure of neuronal density, and this study cannot reveal underlying cellular differences. While this study represents possibly the largest single-site sample of its kind, it is underpowered to detect very small differences. Conclusions: These results provide compelling evidence that autism is associated with regional GM volumetric differences, which are more prominent than density differences. This underscores the importance of examining volume and density separately, and suggests that direct measures of volume (e.g. region-of-interest or tensor-based morphometry approaches) may be more sensitive to autism-relevant differences in neuroanatomy than concentration/density-based approaches.
format	article
author	Lisa D. Yankowitz Benjamin E. Yerys John D. Herrington Juhi Pandey Robert T. Schultz
author_facet	Lisa D. Yankowitz Benjamin E. Yerys John D. Herrington Juhi Pandey Robert T. Schultz
author_sort	Lisa D. Yankowitz
title	Dissociating regional gray matter density and gray matter volume in autism spectrum condition
title_short	Dissociating regional gray matter density and gray matter volume in autism spectrum condition
title_full	Dissociating regional gray matter density and gray matter volume in autism spectrum condition
title_fullStr	Dissociating regional gray matter density and gray matter volume in autism spectrum condition
title_full_unstemmed	Dissociating regional gray matter density and gray matter volume in autism spectrum condition
title_sort	dissociating regional gray matter density and gray matter volume in autism spectrum condition
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/5bb17f2f6329490e86cbc7cdec5b3f00
work_keys_str_mv	AT lisadyankowitz dissociatingregionalgraymatterdensityandgraymattervolumeinautismspectrumcondition AT benjamineyerys dissociatingregionalgraymatterdensityandgraymattervolumeinautismspectrumcondition AT johndherrington dissociatingregionalgraymatterdensityandgraymattervolumeinautismspectrumcondition AT juhipandey dissociatingregionalgraymatterdensityandgraymattervolumeinautismspectrumcondition AT roberttschultz dissociatingregionalgraymatterdensityandgraymattervolumeinautismspectrumcondition
_version_	1718409843156451328

Dissociating regional gray matter density and gray matter volume in autism spectrum condition

Ejemplares similares