Title |
Cerebellar anatomical alterations and attention to eyes in autism
|
---|---|
Published in |
Scientific Reports, September 2017
|
DOI | 10.1038/s41598-017-11883-w |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Charles Laidi, Jennifer Boisgontier, M. Mallar Chakravarty, Sevan Hotier, Marc-Antoine d’Albis, Jean-François Mangin, Gabriel A. Devenyi, Richard Delorme, Federico Bolognani, Christian Czech, Céline Bouquet, Elie Toledano, Manuel Bouvard, Doriane Gras, Julie Petit, Marina Mishchenko, Alexandru Gaman, Isabelle Scheid, Marion Leboyer, Tiziana Zalla, Josselin Houenou |
Abstract |
The cerebellum is implicated in social cognition and is likely to be involved in the pathophysiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The goal of our study was to explore cerebellar morphology in adults with ASD and its relationship to eye contact, as measured by fixation time allocated on the eye region using an eye-tracking device. Two-hundred ninety-four subjects with ASD and controls were included in our study and underwent a structural magnetic resonance imaging scan. Global segmentation and cortical parcellation of the cerebellum were performed. A sub-sample of 59 subjects underwent an eye tracking protocol in order to measure the fixation time allocated to the eye region. We did not observe any difference in global cerebellar volumes between ASD patients and controls; however, regional analyses found a decrease of the volume of the right anterior cerebellum in subjects with ASD compared to controls. There were significant correlations between fixation time on eyes and the volumes of the vermis and Crus I. Our results suggest that cerebellar morphology may be related to eye avoidance and reduced social attention. Eye tracking may be a promising neuro-anatomically based stratifying biomarker of ASD. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 1 | 20% |
Unknown | 4 | 80% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 3 | 60% |
Scientists | 2 | 40% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 109 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Researcher | 17 | 16% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 16 | 15% |
Student > Master | 13 | 12% |
Student > Bachelor | 13 | 12% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 8 | 7% |
Other | 15 | 14% |
Unknown | 27 | 25% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Neuroscience | 24 | 22% |
Psychology | 16 | 15% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 7 | 6% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 6 | 6% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 4 | 4% |
Other | 15 | 14% |
Unknown | 37 | 34% |