Limbic Circuitry in Patients With Autism Spectrum Disorders Studied With Positron Emission Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Cytoarchitectonic changes in the anterior cingulate cortex, hippocampus, subiculum, entorhinal cortex, amygdala, mammillary bodies, and septum were reported in a postmortem study of autism. Previously, the authors found smaller cingulate volume and decreased metabolism of the cingulate in seven autistic patients. In this study, they measured the volume and glucose metabolism of the amygdala, hippocampus, and cingulate gyrus in an expanded group of 17 patients with autism spectrum disorders (autism [N=10] or Asperger’s disorder [N=7]) and 17 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. METHOD: Subjects performed a serial verbal learning test during 18F-deoxyglucose uptake. The amygdala, hippocampus, and cingulate gyrus were outlined on magnetic resonance imaging scans, volumes of the structures were applied to matching coregistered positron emission tomography scans, and three-dimensional significance probability mapping was performed. RESULTS: Significant metabolic reductions in both the anterior a...