Sean C. L. Deoni1,
Asal Shahidiani2, Vera DAlmeida2, Steven Williams3,
Declan Murphy2
1Advanced
Baby Imaging Lab, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States; 2Department
of Forensic and Developmental Sciences, Kings College London, London,
England, United Kingdom; 3Department of NeuroImaging, Kings
College London, London, England, United Kingdom
A recurrent finding in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is abnormal brain growth, though the neurobiological basis remains unknown. Prior studies have shown slowed micro-structural development in infants with ASD, which may be indicative of myelination differences in children with ASD. Here we cross-sectionally compare myelin development in children and adolescents (6-19 years of age) with ASD and typically developing controls. We show that in brain regions previously implicated in the disorder, children with ASD have increased myelin development (faster growth) in adolescence than typically developing children.
Keywords