The neuroanatomy of pictorial reasoning in autism

[摘要] (cont.) An examination of white matter integrity yielded a similar finding in the relationship between structural neuroanatomy and cognitive profile, such that connectivity patterns were related to the semantic mediation difficulties and visual processing preference in the HFA group: tracts relevant for semantic processing in CTRL were disrupted in HFA along the superior longitudinal fasciculus and in the frontal lobe, whereas parietal and inferior temporal white matter supporting visuospatial processing were intact in HFA The results suggest that performance in high functioning autism may be related to deficits in frontal cortex connectivity, in favor of visualization strategies in higher-level cognition. The findings appear to support the use of visuospatial vs. linguistic tasks to differentiate between potential subtypes on the autism spectrum.

[发布机构] Massachusetts Institute of Technology