Dataset Information

Cortical Morphology in Autism: Findings from a Cortical Shape-Adaptive Approach to Local Gyrification Indexing.

ABSTRACT: It has been challenging to elucidate the differences in brain structure that underlie behavioral features of autism. Prior studies have begun to identify patterns of changes in autism across multiple structural indices, including cortical thickness, local gyrification, and sulcal depth. However, common approaches to local gyrification indexing used in prior studies have been limited by low spatial resolution relative to functional brain topography. In this study, we analyze the aforementioned structural indices, utilizing a new method of local gyrification indexing that quantifies this index adaptively in relation to specific sulci/gyri, improving interpretation with respect to functional organization. Our sample included n = 115 autistic and n = 254 neurotypical participants aged 5-54, and we investigated structural patterns by group, age, and autism-related behaviors. Differing structural patterns by group emerged in many regions, with age moderating group differences particularly in frontal and limbic regions. There were also several regions, particularly in sensory areas, in which one or more of the structural indices of interest either positively or negatively covaried with autism-related behaviors. Given the advantages of this approach, future studies may benefit from its application in hypothesis-driven examinations of specific brain regions and/or longitudinal studies to assess brain development in autism.

SUBMITTER: Zoltowski AR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8491691 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Cortical Morphology in Autism: Findings from a Cortical Shape-Adaptive Approach to Local Gyrification Indexing.

Zoltowski Alisa R AR Lyu Ilwoo I Failla Michelle M Mash Lisa E LE Dunham Kacie K Feldman Jacob I JI Woynaroski Tiffany G TG Wallace Mark T MT Barquero Laura A LA Nguyen Tin Q TQ Cutting Laurie E LE Kang Hakmook H Landman Bennett A BA Cascio Carissa J CJ

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) 20211001 11

It has been challenging to elucidate the differences in brain structure that underlie behavioral features of autism. Prior studies have begun to identify patterns of changes in autism across multiple structural indices, including cortical thickness, local gyrification, and sulcal depth. However, common approaches to local gyrification indexing used in prior studies have been limited by low spatial resolution relative to functional brain topography. In this study, we analyze the aforementioned st ...[more]

PMID: 34195789

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Project description:Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent psychiatric disorder, particularly among military personnel and veterans. Cortical gyrification, as a specific metric derived from structural MRI, is an index of the convoluted folding and patterning of the gyri and sulci, and is thought to facilitate the efficiency of local neuronal wiring. It has the potential to act as a neurobiological risk factor for emergent psychiatric disorders - to date, it has been understudied in PTSD. Here, using a local measure of the degree of gyrification (local Gyrification Index, lGI) we investigate cortical gyrification morphology in 48 adult male soldiers with (n = 23) and without (n = 25) a PTSD diagnosis. We also examine the relation between lGI and PTSD severity within the PTSD group. General linear models yielded significant between-group differences with greater lGI found in PTSD in a cluster located in the medial occipito-parietal lobe on the left hemisphere and reduced lGI in a cluster located on the lateral surface of the parietal lobe on the right hemisphere. Brain-behaviour analyses within the PTSD group yielded significant positive associations between lGI and PTSD severity in a cluster located in the frontal cortex of the left hemisphere and scattered clusters located within all lobes of the right hemisphere. After accounting for the effects of comorbid psychiatric symptoms common in PTSD, the associations in the right hemisphere reduced to clusters only located in the frontal lobe, while the cluster in the left hemisphere remained significant. Our results suggest that atypical cortical gyrification in parietal and occipital regions may be implicated in the psychopathology of PTSD diagnosis, and properties of prefrontal gyrification associated with the emergent severity of PTSD after trauma. The importance of these regions in PTSD may be attributed to a pre-existing neurobiological risk factor, or neuromorphological changes after trauma precipitating emergent psychiatric illness. Our brain-behaviour relations provide support for the existing literature by highlighting the importance of the frontal lobe in the pathogenesis of PTSD. Future large-scale longitudinal studies including female participants may infer causal implications of atypical gyrification in PTSD and shed light on the potential effect of sex on this brain metric.

Dataset Information

Cortical Morphology in Autism: Findings from a Cortical Shape-Adaptive Approach to Local Gyrification Indexing.

Publications

Cortical Morphology in Autism: Findings from a Cortical Shape-Adaptive Approach to Local Gyrification Indexing.

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