Free Water Corrected Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging Reveals Microstructural Alterations in Corpus Callosum Subregions of Preschool Children With Autism.

ABSTRACT: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with white matter microstructural abnormalities, particularly in the corpus callosum (CC). This study employed free water corrected diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (fwc-dMRI) to investigate CC subregion-specific microstructural alterations in preschool children with ASD, which mitigates partial volume effects from extracellular free water. Sixty-one ASD children (6.03 ± 1.08 years) and 62 typically developing (TD) controls (6.49 ± 1.45 years) were enrolled in this study. In the ASD group, the symptom severity was assessed by the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC). Fwc-dMRI technique, a bi-tensor tractography method, was used to investigate the white matter microstructure, which models free water and brain tissues through isotropic and anisotro

SUBMITTER: Cao D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12714802 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature