The researchers compared the brain structure of people with autistic spectrum disorders and without them.
An international group of scientists announced that it was able to detect structural brain characteristics of people with autism. It turned out that autistic spectrum disorders are associated with increased symmetry.
In the study, researchers examined data on the structure of the brain 1774 people with autism and 1809 people who have an autism spectrum disorders do not suffer. Data were obtained using MRI. It turned out, the brains of people with autism spectrum disorder is more symmetric. Their left and right hemispheres are more similar to each other than ordinary people. These anatomical differences persisted after adjusting for age, sex, IQ, severity of symptoms and the use of different drugs.
Reduced asymmetry related to the crust thickness in different parts of the brain. In a healthy brain, this thickness differs at the left and right hemispheres. However, the difference between people with autism and the control group was not sufficiently large for the reduction of the asymmetry could be a diagnostic criterion or helped in clinical predictions. However, its existence will help to learn more about the neurobiological nature of autism.
