Three-dimensional mapping of the lateral ventricles in autism

• Published in: Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging Vol. 163; no. 2; pp. 106 - 115
• Main Authors: Vidal, Christine N., Nicolson, Rob, Boire, Jean-Yves, Barra, Vincent, DeVito, Timothy J., Hayashi, Kiralee M., Geaga, Jennifer A., Drost, Dick J., Williamson, Peter C., Rajakumar, Nagalingam, Toga, Arthur W., Thompson, Paul M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 15.07.2008; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Autism; Autistic Disorder - diagnosis; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Brain Mapping; Child; Child clinical studies; Computer Science; Developmental disorders; Dominance, Cerebral - physiology; Frontal Lobe - pathology; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Infantile autism; Lateral ventricles; Lateral Ventricles - pathology; Machine Learning; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical sciences; MRI; Occipital Lobe - pathology; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Radiology; Reference Values; Signal and Image Processing; Autism; Brain; MRI; Lateral ventricles; Human; Cartography; Central nervous system; Medical imagery; Developmental disorder; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Encephalon
• ISSN: 0925-4927; 1872-7506
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2007.11.002

In this study, a computational mapping technique was used to examine the three-dimensional profile of the lateral ventricles in autism. T1-weighted three-dimensional magnetic resonance images of the brain were acquired from 20 males with autism (age: 10.1 ± 3.5 years) and 22 male control subjects (age: 10.7 ± 2.5 years). The lateral ventricles were delineated manually and ventricular volumes were compared between the two groups. Ventricular traces were also converted into statistical three-dimensional maps, based on anatomical surface meshes. These maps were used to visualize regional morphological differences in the thickness of the lateral ventricles between patients and controls. Although ventricular volumes measured using traditional methods did not differ significantly between groups, statistical surface maps revealed subtle, highly localized reductions in ventricular size in patients with autism in the left frontal and occipital horns. These localized reductions in the lateral ventricles may result from exaggerated brain growth early in life.