TY - JOUR
T1 - Thinning faster? Age-related cortical thickness differences in adults with autism spectrum disorder
AU - Braden, Brittany
AU - Riecken, Cory
N1 - Funding Information:
We are very thankful to the ABIDE I team and participating institutions for access to this valuable data repository. Primary support for the work by Adriana Di Martino was provided by the NIMH ( K23MH087770 ) and the Leon Levy Foundation . Primary support for the work by Michael P. Milham and the INDI team was provided by gifts from Joseph P. Healy and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to the Child Mind Institute, as well as by an NIMH award to MPM ( R03MH096321 ). The BNI Site from ABIDE II was funded by U.S. Department of Defense , Grant Number: AR140105 and State of Arizona (Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium) .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2019/8
Y1 - 2019/8
N2 - Background: Over the course of the last 30 years, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses have increased, thus identifying a large group of aging individuals with ASD. Currently, little is known regarding how aging will affect these individual's neuroanatomy, compared to the neurotypical (NT) population. Because of the anatomical overlap of ASD-related cortical pathology and age-related cortical thinning, both following an anterior-to-posterior severity gradient, we hypothesize adults with ASD will show larger age-related cortical thinning than NT adults. Methods: We analyzed cortical measurements using available data from the multi-site Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange I (ABIDE I; n = 282) and our own cohort of middle-age to older adults with and without ASD (n = 47) mostly available in ABIDE II (n = 35). We compared correlations between cortical measures and age in right-handed adults with ASD (n = 157) and similar NT adults (n = 172), controlling for IQ and site. Participants were 18–64 years of age (mean = 29.8 years; median = 26 years). Results: We found significant differences between diagnosis groups in the relationship between age and cortical thickness for areas of left frontal lobe (pars opercularis), temporal lobe (inferior gyrus, middle gyrus, banks of the superior temporal sulcus, and entorhinal cortex), parietal lobe (inferior gyrus), and lateral occipital lobe. For all areas, adults with ASD showed a greater negative correlation between age and cortical thickness than NT adults. Conclusion: As hypothesized, adults with ASD demonstrated exacerbated age-related cortical thinning, compared to NT adults. These differences were the largest and most extensive in the left temporal lobe. Future longitudinal work is warranted to investigate whether differences in brain age trajectories will translate to unique behavioral needs in older adults with ASD.
AB - Background: Over the course of the last 30 years, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses have increased, thus identifying a large group of aging individuals with ASD. Currently, little is known regarding how aging will affect these individual's neuroanatomy, compared to the neurotypical (NT) population. Because of the anatomical overlap of ASD-related cortical pathology and age-related cortical thinning, both following an anterior-to-posterior severity gradient, we hypothesize adults with ASD will show larger age-related cortical thinning than NT adults. Methods: We analyzed cortical measurements using available data from the multi-site Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange I (ABIDE I; n = 282) and our own cohort of middle-age to older adults with and without ASD (n = 47) mostly available in ABIDE II (n = 35). We compared correlations between cortical measures and age in right-handed adults with ASD (n = 157) and similar NT adults (n = 172), controlling for IQ and site. Participants were 18–64 years of age (mean = 29.8 years; median = 26 years). Results: We found significant differences between diagnosis groups in the relationship between age and cortical thickness for areas of left frontal lobe (pars opercularis), temporal lobe (inferior gyrus, middle gyrus, banks of the superior temporal sulcus, and entorhinal cortex), parietal lobe (inferior gyrus), and lateral occipital lobe. For all areas, adults with ASD showed a greater negative correlation between age and cortical thickness than NT adults. Conclusion: As hypothesized, adults with ASD demonstrated exacerbated age-related cortical thinning, compared to NT adults. These differences were the largest and most extensive in the left temporal lobe. Future longitudinal work is warranted to investigate whether differences in brain age trajectories will translate to unique behavioral needs in older adults with ASD.
KW - ASD
KW - Aging
KW - Autism
KW - Brain
KW - Cortical thickness
KW - Gray matter
KW - MRI
KW - Temporal lobe
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U2 - 10.1016/j.rasd.2019.03.005
DO - 10.1016/j.rasd.2019.03.005
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85064090332
SN - 1750-9467
VL - 64
SP - 31
EP - 38
JO - Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders
JF - Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders
ER -