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White matter compromise in autism? Differentiating motion confounds from true differences in diffusion tensor imaging.

ABSTRACT: Common findings from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) include reduced fractional anisotropy (FA), and increased mean and radial diffusivity (MD, RD) of white matter tracts. However, findings may be confounded by head motion. We examined how group-level motion matching affects DTI comparisons between ASD and typically developing (TD) groups. We included 57 ASD and 50 TD participants, comparing three subsets at increasing levels of motion-matching stringency: full sample (FS); quality-controlled (QC); and quantitatively-matched (QM). Groups were compared on diffusivity measures using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) and probabilistic tractography. Two methods for estimating diffusivity were compared: dti-fit and restore. TBSS: In set FS, FA was reduced in the ASD compared to the TD group throughout the right hemisphere. This effect was less extensive in set QC and absent in set QM. However, effect sizes remained stable or increased with better quality-control in some regions. Tractography: In set QM, MD was significantly higher in ASD overall and RD was higher in bilateral ILF. Effects were more robust in QM than in FS or QC sets. Effect sizes in several tracts increased with stringent quality matching. Restore improved tensor estimates, with some increases in effect sizes, but did not fully compensate for reduced quality. Findings suggest that some previously reported DTI findings for ASD may have been confounded by motion. However, effects in the tightly matched subset indicate that tract-specific anomalies probably do exist in ASD. Our results highlight the need for careful quality-control and motion-matching. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1606-1620. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

SUBMITTER: Solders SK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5648623 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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White matter compromise in autism? Differentiating motion confounds from true differences in diffusion tensor imaging.

Solders Seraphina K SK Carper Ruth A RA Müller Ralph-Axel RA

Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research 20170515 10

Common findings from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) include reduced fractional anisotropy (FA), and increased mean and radial diffusivity (MD, RD) of white matter tracts. However, findings may be confounded by head motion. We examined how group-level motion matching affects DTI comparisons between ASD and typically developing (TD) groups. We included 57 ASD and 50 TD participants, comparing three subsets at increasing levels of motion-matching stringency: full s ...[more]

PMID: 28503904

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Project description:Previous diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have shown white matter compromise in children and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which may relate to reduced connectivity and impaired function of distributed networks. However, tract-specific evidence remains limited in ASD. We applied tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) for an unbiased whole-brain quantitative estimation of the fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusion (MD) and axial and radial diffusion of the white matter tracts in children and adolescents with ASD.DTI was performed in 26 ASD and 24 typically developing (TD) participants, aged 9-20 years. Groups were matched for age and IQ. Each participant's aligned FA, MD and axial and radial diffusion data were projected onto the mean FA skeleton representing the centers of all tracts and the resulting data fed into voxelwise group statistics.TBSS revealed decreased FA and increased MD and radial diffusion in the ASD group compared to the TD group in the corpus callosum, anterior and posterior limbs of the internal capsule, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, superior longitudinal fasciculus, cingulum, anterior thalamic radiation, and corticospinal tract. No single site with inverse effects (increased FA, reduced MD or radial diffusion in the ASD group) was detected. In clusters of significant group difference, age was positively correlated with FA and negatively correlated with MD and radial diffusion in the TD, but not the ASD group.Our findings reveal white matter compromise affecting numerous tracts in children and adolescents with ASD. Slightly varying patterns of diffusion abnormalities detected for some tracts may suggest tract-specific patterns of white matter abnormalities associated with ASD. Age-dependent effects further show that maturational changes (increasing FA, decreasing MD and radial diffusion with age) are diminished in ASD from school-age childhood into young adulthood.

Dataset Information

White matter compromise in autism? Differentiating motion confounds from true differences in diffusion tensor imaging.

Publications

White matter compromise in autism? Differentiating motion confounds from true differences in diffusion tensor imaging.

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