Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is currently viewed as a disorder of cortical systems connectivity, with a heavy emphasis being on the structural integrity of white matter tracts. However, the majority of the literature to date has focused on children with ASD. Understanding the integrity of white matter tracts in adults may help reveal the nature of ASD pathology in adulthood and the potential contributors to cognitive impairment. This study examined white matter water diffusion using diffusion tensor imaging in relation to neuropsychological measures of cognition in a sample of 45 adults with ASD compared to 20 age, gender, and full‐scale‐IQ‐matched healthy volunteers. Tract‐based spatial statistics were used to assess differences in diffusion along white matter tracts between groups using permutation testing. The following neuropsychological measures of cognition were assessed: processing speed, attention vigilance, working memory, verbal learning, visual learning, reasoning and problem solving, and social cognition. Results indicated that fractional anisotropy (FA) was significantly reduced in adults with ASD in the anterior thalamic radiation (P = 0.022) and the right cingulum (P = 0.008). All neuropsychological measures were worse in the ASD group, but none of the measures significantly correlated with reduced FA in either tract in the adults with ASD or in the healthy volunteers. Together, this indicates that the tracts that are the most impacted in autism may not be (at least directly) responsible for the behavioral deficits in ASD. Autism Res 2020, 13: 702–714. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

中文翻译：

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患有自闭症谱系障碍的成年人的白质完整性和神经心理功能障碍有所减少。

自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）当前被视为皮质系统连通性障碍，其中重点是白质束的结构完整性。然而，迄今为止，大多数文献都集中在患有自闭症的儿童上。了解成年人白质束的完整性可能有助于揭示成年期ASD病理学的性质以及可能导致认知障碍的因素。这项研究使用弥散张量成像技术对45名ASD成年人（与20名年龄，性别和完全智商匹配的健康志愿者）的认知相关的神经心理学指标进行了研究，研究了白质水的扩散。基于排列的空间统计数据用于通过置换测试评估各组之间沿着白质束的扩散差异。评估了以下神经心理学认知措施：处理速度，注意警惕性，工作记忆，言语学习，视觉学习，推理和问题解决以及社交认知。结果表明，在前丘脑辐射中，患有ASD的成年人的分数各向异性（FA）显着降低（P = 0.022）和右扣带（P = 0.008）。在ASD组中，所有神经心理学措施均较差，但在ASD成人或健康志愿者中，没有任何一种措施与FA降低显着相关。总之，这表明在自闭症中受影响最大的管道可能（至少直接）对ASD的行为缺陷不负责。Autism Res 2020，13：702-714。©2020国际自闭症研究协会，Wiley Periodicals，Inc.。