Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Magnetic Resonance Imaging Measurements and Cognitive Performance in Autism

Overview

Journal J Child Neurol

Specialties Neurology
Pediatrics

Date 2010 Jan 26

PMID 20097663

Citations 17

Authors

Jessica Griebling

Nancy J Minshew

Kimberly Bodner

Robin Libove

Rahul Bansal

Prasad Konasale

Matcheri S Keshavan

Antonio Hardan

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

This study examined the relationships between volumetric measurements of frontal lobe structures and performance on executive function tasks in individuals with autism. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were obtained from 38 individuals with autism and 40 matched controls between the ages of 8 and 45 years. Executive function was assessed using neuropsychological measures including the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and Tower of Hanoi. Differences in performance on the neuropsychological tests were found between the 2 groups. However, no differences in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex volumes were observed between groups. No correlations between volumetric measurements and performance on the neuropsychological tests were found. Findings from this study suggest that executive function deficits observed in autism are related to functional but not anatomical abnormalities of the frontal lobe. The absence of correlations suggests that executive dysfunction is not the result of focal brain alterations but, rather, is the result of a distributed neural network dysfunction.

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