FEATURES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEURAL CONNECTIONS (WHITE MATTER) IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM
Keywords:
autism spectrum disorder, white matter, neural connections, diffusion tensor imaging, fractional anisotropy, radial diffusivity.Abstract
White matter development is one of the most important neurobiological dimensions in autism spectrum disorder because it reflects how distant brain regions become structurally connected during infancy and childhood. In children with autism, diffusion MRI studies do not support a single fixed abnormality. Instead, they point to an atypical developmental trajectory. The earliest findings suggest that some infants who later develop autism show relatively increased fractional anisotropy at 6 months, followed by a slower pace of white matter maturation during the second year of life. In preschool and school-age samples, this early advantage is often replaced by reduced or region-specific compromise in major tracts related to interhemispheric transfer, language, social communication, and executive regulation.
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