Background
There is emerging evidence that the neuroanatomy of autism forms a spectrum which extends into the general population. However, whilst several studies have identified cortical morphology correlates of autistic traits, it is not established whether morphological differences are present in the subcortical structures of the brain. Additionally, it is not clear to what extent previously reported structural associations may be confounded by co-occurring psychopathology. To address these questions, we utilised neuroimaging data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study to assess whether a measure of autistic traits was associated with differences in child subcortical morphology, and if any observed differences persisted after adjustment for child internalising and externalising symptoms.
Methods
Our analyses included data from 7,005 children aged 9-10 years (female: 47.19%) participating in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. Autistic traits were assessed using scores from the Social Responsiveness Scale. Volumes of subcortical regions-of-interest were derived from structural magnetic resonance imaging data.
Results
Overall, we did not find strong evidence for an association of autistic traits with differences in subcortical morphology in this sample of school-aged children. Whilst lower absolute volumes of the nucleus accumbens and putamen were associated with higher scores of autistic traits, these differences did not persist once a global measure of brain size was accounted for.
Conclusions
These findings from our well-powered study suggest that other metrics of brain morphology, such as cortical morphology or shape-based phenotypes, may be stronger candidates to prioritise when attempting to identify robust neuromarkers of autistic traits.
Psychotic‐like experiences associated with sleep disturbance and brain volumes in youth: Findings from the adolescent brain cognitive development study
