A Twin Study of Altered White Matter Heritability in Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

White matter alterations are frequently reported in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet the etiology is currently unknown. The objective of this investigation was to examine, for the first time, the impact of genetic and environmental factors on white matter microstructure in twins with ASD compared to control twins without ASD.

Method

Diffusion-weighted MRIs were obtained from same-sex twin pairs (6-15 years of age) in which at least 1 twin was diagnosed with ASD or neither twin exhibited a history of neurological or psychiatric disorders. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were examined across different white matter tracts in the brain, and statistical and twin modeling were completed to assess the proportion of variation associated with additiv

SUBMITTER: Hegarty JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10802971 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature