Abstract #2528

A 1H-MRS Study of the Auditory Cortex in Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Mark Steven Brown¹, Katie Youngpeter², Debra Singel³, Susan Hepburn², Don C. Rojas²

¹Radiology, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO, United States; ²Psychiatry, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO, United States; ³Brain Imaging Center, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO, United States

1H-MRS of the left and right auditory cortex, centered around Heschl's gyrus, was performed on 11 subjects with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 10 age matched controls. Metabolite concentrations were compared to a continuous measure of ASD symptom severity, the Autism Spectrum Quotient. Glutamate (Glu) and n-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) were found to be greater on the left side in the ASD group then in the control group, with no differences found on the right side. The left side Glu was also inversely correlated with the communication subtest of the Autism Spectrum Quotient.