Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a phenotypically and etiologically heterogeneous developmental disorder typically diagnosed around 4 years of age. The development of biomarkers to help in earlier, presymptomatic diagnosis could facilitate earlier identification and therefore earlier intervention and may lead to better outcomes, as well as providing information to help better understand the underlying mechanisms of ASD. In this study, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of infants at high familial risk, from the Infant Brain Imaging Study (IBIS), at 6, 12 and 24 months of age were included in a morphological analysis, fitting a mixed-effects model to Tensor Based Morphometry (TBM) results to obtain voxel-wise growth trajectories. Subjects were grouped by familial risk and clinical diagnosis at 2 years of age. Several regions, including the posterior cingulate gyrus, the cingulum, the fusiform gyrus, and the precentral gyrus, showed a significant effect for the interaction of group and age associated with ASD, either as an increased or a decreased growth rate of the cerebrum. In general, our results showed increased growth rate within white matter with decreased growth rate found mostly in grey matter. Overall, the regions showing increased growth rate were larger and more numerous than those with decreased growth rate. These results detail, at the voxel level, differences in brain growth trajectories in ASD during the first years of life, previously reported in terms of overall brain volume and surface area.

自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 是一种表型和病因异质的发育障碍，通常在 4 岁左右被诊断出来。开发生物标志物以帮助早期症状前诊断可以促进早期识别，从而促进早期干预，并可能带来更好的结果，并提供信息以帮助更好地了解 ASD 的潜在机制。在这项研究中，来自婴儿脑成像研究 (IBIS) 的 6、12 和 24 个月大的高家族风险婴儿的磁共振成像 (MRI) 扫描被纳入形态学分析，拟合混合效应模型到基于张量的形态测量 (TBM) 结果以获得体素增长轨迹。受试者在 2 岁时按家族风险和临床诊断分组。几个地区，包括后扣带回、扣带回、梭状回和中央前回，对与 ASD 相关的群体和年龄的相互作用有显着影响，表现为大脑生长速度的增加或减少。总的来说，我们的结果显示白质内的增长率增加，而灰质中的增长率下降。总体而言，增长率上升的地区比增长率下降的地区更大，数量也更多。这些结果在体素水平上详细说明了 ASD 在生命最初几年的大脑生长轨迹的差异，之前根据整体脑容量和表面积进行了报道。显示对与 ASD 相关的组和年龄的相互作用有显着影响，无论是增加还是减少大脑的生长速度。总的来说，我们的结果显示白质内的增长率增加，而灰质中的增长率下降。总体而言，增长率上升的地区比增长率下降的地区更大，数量也更多。这些结果在体素水平上详细说明了 ASD 在生命最初几年的大脑生长轨迹的差异，之前根据整体脑容量和表面积进行了报告。显示对与 ASD 相关的组和年龄的相互作用有显着影响，无论是增加还是减少大脑的生长速度。总的来说，我们的结果显示白质内的增长率增加，而灰质中的增长率下降。总体而言，增长率上升的地区比增长率下降的地区更大，数量也更多。这些结果在体素水平上详细说明了 ASD 在生命最初几年的大脑生长轨迹的差异，之前根据整体脑容量和表面积进行了报道。增长率增加的区域比增长率下降的区域更大，数量也更多。这些结果在体素水平上详细说明了 ASD 在生命最初几年的大脑生长轨迹的差异，之前根据整体脑容量和表面积进行了报道。增长率增加的区域比增长率下降的区域更大，数量也更多。这些结果在体素水平上详细说明了 ASD 在生命最初几年的大脑生长轨迹的差异，之前根据整体脑容量和表面积进行了报道。