Brain gray matter alterations and associated demographic profiles in adults with autism spectrum disorder: A meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies

AbstractPrior ex vivo histological postmortem studies of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have shown gray matter microstructural abnormalities, however, in vivo examination of gray matter microstructure in ASD has remained scarce due to the relative lack of non-invasive methods to assess it. The aim of this work was to evaluate the feasibility of employing diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) to describe gray matter abnormalities in ASD in vivo. DKI data were examined for 16 male participants with a diagnosis of ASD and IQ>80 and 17 age- and IQ-matched male typically developing (TD) young adults 18–25 years old. Mean (MK), axial (AK), radial (RK) kurtosis and mean diffusivity (MD) metrics were calculated for lobar and sub-lobar regions of interest. Significantly decreased MK, RK, and MD were found in ASD compared to TD participants in the frontal and temporal lobes and several sub-lobar regions previously associated with ASD pathology. In ASD participants, decreased kurtosis in gray matter ROIs correlated with increased repetitive and restricted behaviors and poor social interaction symptoms. Decreased kurtosis in ASD may reflect a pathology associated with a less restrictive microstructural environment such as decreased neuronal density and size, atypically sized cortical columns, or limited dendritic arborizations.

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A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Social Skills Training for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders ◽

10.1007/s10803-021-05058-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

J Dubreucq ◽

F Haesebaert ◽

J Plasse ◽

M Dubreucq ◽

N Franck

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Social Skills ◽

Social Skills Training ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Skills Training ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Adults With Autism

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Anxiety and depression in adults with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291718002283 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 49 (4) ◽

pp. 559-572 ◽

Cited By ~ 76

Author(s):

Matthew J Hollocks ◽

Jian Wei Lerh ◽

Iliana Magiati ◽

Richard Meiser-Stedman ◽

Traolach S Brugha

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Clinical Samples ◽

Adults With Autism ◽

Adults With Asd ◽

The Impact

AbstractAdults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are thought to be at disproportionate risk of developing mental health comorbidities, with anxiety and depression being considered most prominent amongst these. Yet, no systematic review has been carried out to date to examine rates of both anxiety and depression focusing specifically on adults with ASD. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the rates of anxiety and depression in adults with ASD and the impact of factors such as assessment methods and presence of comorbid intellectual disability (ID) diagnosis on estimated prevalence rates. Electronic database searches for studies published between January 2000 and September 2017 identified a total of 35 studies, including 30 studies measuring anxiety (n= 26 070; mean age = 30.9,s.d.= 6.2 years) and 29 studies measuring depression (n= 26 117; mean age = 31.1,s.d.= 6.8 years). The pooled estimation of current and lifetime prevalence for adults with ASD were 27% and 42% for any anxiety disorder, and 23% and 37% for depressive disorder. Further analyses revealed that the use of questionnaire measures and the presence of ID may significantly influence estimates of prevalence. The current literature suffers from a high degree of heterogeneity in study method and an overreliance on clinical samples. These results highlight the importance of community-based studies and the identification and inclusion of well-characterized samples to reduce heterogeneity and bias in estimates of prevalence for comorbidity in adults with ASD and other populations with complex psychiatric presentations.

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