Autistic people have symmetrical brain hemispheres
While it is known that the human brain is divided into 2
hemispheres, what is not known is that despite the 2 develop
differently, symmetry is found in the brain of autistic people.
The
left and right halves develop differently, as each ' specialises' in
certain functions. But brain asymmetry is sometimes affected in people
with developmental or psychiatric disorders like autism, which is
characterised by impaired social cognition, repetitive behaviour and
restricted interests.
Previous studies have
suggested that people with autism spectrum disorder are less likely to
have the typical asymmetries for language dominance or hand preference,
explained a researcher.
However, it has not
been clear whether asymmetry of the brain's anatomy is affected in
autism, because different studies have reported different findings, he
added.
To find if people with autism have a
more symmetrical brain, researchers decided to do a large-scale study,
based in brain scan data from 1,774 people with autism and 1,808 healthy
controls that were collected in different countries over more than 20
years.
They found that the left and right cerebral hemispheres of the brain are indeed more similar in people with autism.
In
other words, people with ASD had less brain asymmetry. The reduced
asymmetry was mostly found for cortical thickness, at various locations
across the brain's surface.
Importantly, the anatomical differences did not depend on age, sex IQ, the severity of symptoms or medication use.
The
very small average differences in brain asymmetry between affected
people and controls mean that changes of brain asymmetry will not be
useful in terms of clinical prediction, said a researcher.
The
very small average differences in brain asymmetry between affected
people and controls mean that changes of brain asymmetry will not be
useful in terms of clinical prediction, said the researcher.
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