Developmental brain structural atypicalities in autism: a voxel-based morphometry analysis

BACKGROUND: Structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) studies have shown atypicalities in structural brain changes in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), while a noticeable discrepancy in their results indicates the necessity of conducting further researches. METHODS: The current study investigated the atypical structural brain features of autistic individuals who aged 6–30 years old. A total of 52 autistic individuals and 50 age-, gender-, and intelligence quotient (IQ)-matched typically developing (TD) individuals were included in this study, and were assigned into three based cohorts: childhood (6–12 years old), adolescence (13–18 years old), and adulthood (19–30 years old). Analyses of whole-brain volume and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) on the sMRI data were conducted. RESULTS: No significant difference was found in the volumes of whole-brain, gray matter, and white matter between the autism and TD groups in the three age-based cohorts. For VBM analyses, the volumes of gray matter in the right superior temporal gyrus and right inferior parietal lobule in the autism group (6–12 years old) were smaller than those in the TD group; the gray matter volume in the left inferior parietal lobule in the autism group (13–18 years old) was larger than that in the TD group; the gray matter volume in the right middle occipital gyrus in the autism group (19–30 years old) was larger than that in the TD group, and the gray matter volume in the left posterior cingulate gyrus in the autism group was smaller than that in the TD group. CONCLUSION: Autistic individuals showed different atypical regional gray matter volumetric changes in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood compared to their TD peers, indicating that it is essential to consider developmental stages of the brain when exploring brain structural atypicalities in autism. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13034-022-00443-4.