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Glutamate/GABA+ ratio is associated with the psychosocial domain of autistic and schizotypal traits

BACKGROUND: The autism and schizophrenia spectra overlap to a large degree in the social and interpersonal domains. Similarly, abnormal excitatory glutamate and inhibitory γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmitter concentrations have been reported for both spectra, with the interplay of these neur...

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Autores principales: Ford, Talitha C., Nibbs, Richard, Crewther, David P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5536272/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28759626
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181961
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author Ford, Talitha C.
Nibbs, Richard
Crewther, David P.
author_facet Ford, Talitha C.
Nibbs, Richard
Crewther, David P.
author_sort Ford, Talitha C.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The autism and schizophrenia spectra overlap to a large degree in the social and interpersonal domains. Similarly, abnormal excitatory glutamate and inhibitory γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmitter concentrations have been reported for both spectra, with the interplay of these neurotransmitters important for cortical excitation to inhibition regulation. This study investigates whether these neurotransmitter abnormalities are specific to the shared symptomatology, and whether the degree of abnormality increases with increasing symptom severity. Hence, the relationship between the glutamate/GABA ratio and autism and schizophrenia spectrum traits in an unmedicated, subclinical population was investigated. METHODS: A total of 37 adults (19 female, 18 male) aged 18-38 years completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), and participated in the resting state proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study in which sequences specific for quantification of glutamate and GABA+ concentration were applied to a right and left superior temporal voxel. RESULTS: There were significant, moderate, positive relationships between right superior temporal glutamate/GABA+ ratio and AQ, SPQ and AQ+SPQ total scores (p<0.05), SPQ subscales Social Anxiety, No Close Friend, Constricted Affect, Odd Behaviour, Odd Speech, Ideas of Reference and Suspiciousness, and AQ subscales Social Skills, Communication and Attention Switching (p<0.05); increased glutamate/GABA+ coinciding with higher scores on these subscales. Only the relationships between glutamate/GABA+ ratio and Social Anxiety, Constricted Affect, Social Skills and Communication survived multiple comparison correction (p< 0.004). Left superior temporal glutamate/GABA+ ratio reduced with increasing restricted imagination (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate evidence for an association between excitatory/inhibitory neurotransmitter concentrations and symptoms that are shared between the autism and schizophrenia spectra.
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spelling pubmed-55362722017-08-07 Glutamate/GABA+ ratio is associated with the psychosocial domain of autistic and schizotypal traits Ford, Talitha C. Nibbs, Richard Crewther, David P. PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: The autism and schizophrenia spectra overlap to a large degree in the social and interpersonal domains. Similarly, abnormal excitatory glutamate and inhibitory γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmitter concentrations have been reported for both spectra, with the interplay of these neurotransmitters important for cortical excitation to inhibition regulation. This study investigates whether these neurotransmitter abnormalities are specific to the shared symptomatology, and whether the degree of abnormality increases with increasing symptom severity. Hence, the relationship between the glutamate/GABA ratio and autism and schizophrenia spectrum traits in an unmedicated, subclinical population was investigated. METHODS: A total of 37 adults (19 female, 18 male) aged 18-38 years completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), and participated in the resting state proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study in which sequences specific for quantification of glutamate and GABA+ concentration were applied to a right and left superior temporal voxel. RESULTS: There were significant, moderate, positive relationships between right superior temporal glutamate/GABA+ ratio and AQ, SPQ and AQ+SPQ total scores (p<0.05), SPQ subscales Social Anxiety, No Close Friend, Constricted Affect, Odd Behaviour, Odd Speech, Ideas of Reference and Suspiciousness, and AQ subscales Social Skills, Communication and Attention Switching (p<0.05); increased glutamate/GABA+ coinciding with higher scores on these subscales. Only the relationships between glutamate/GABA+ ratio and Social Anxiety, Constricted Affect, Social Skills and Communication survived multiple comparison correction (p< 0.004). Left superior temporal glutamate/GABA+ ratio reduced with increasing restricted imagination (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate evidence for an association between excitatory/inhibitory neurotransmitter concentrations and symptoms that are shared between the autism and schizophrenia spectra. Public Library of Science 2017-07-31 /pmc/articles/PMC5536272/ /pubmed/28759626 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181961 Text en © 2017 Ford et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Ford, Talitha C.
Nibbs, Richard
Crewther, David P.
Glutamate/GABA+ ratio is associated with the psychosocial domain of autistic and schizotypal traits
title Glutamate/GABA+ ratio is associated with the psychosocial domain of autistic and schizotypal traits
title_full Glutamate/GABA+ ratio is associated with the psychosocial domain of autistic and schizotypal traits
title_fullStr Glutamate/GABA+ ratio is associated with the psychosocial domain of autistic and schizotypal traits
title_full_unstemmed Glutamate/GABA+ ratio is associated with the psychosocial domain of autistic and schizotypal traits
title_short Glutamate/GABA+ ratio is associated with the psychosocial domain of autistic and schizotypal traits
title_sort glutamate/gaba+ ratio is associated with the psychosocial domain of autistic and schizotypal traits
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5536272/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28759626
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181961
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