Mitochondrial dysfunction as a neurobiological subtype of autism spectrum disorder: evidence from brain imaging.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Impaired mitochondrial function impacts many biological processes that depend heavily on energy and metabolism and can lead to a wide range of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although evidence that mitochondrial dysfunction is a biological subtype of ASD has grown in recent years, no study, to our knowledge, has demonstrated evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction in brain tissue in vivo in a large, well-defined sample of individuals with ASD.

Objectives

To assess brain lactate in individuals with ASD and typically developing controls using high-resolution, multiplanar spectroscopic imaging; to map the distribution of lactate in the brains of individuals with ASD; and to assess correlations of elevated brain lactate with age,

SUBMITTER: Goh S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4239991 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature