Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Brief Report: Alterations in Cerebral Blood Flow as Assessed by PET/CT in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder with Normal IQ

  • Brief Report
  • Published:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Specific biological markers for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have not yet been established. Functional studies have shown abnormalities in the anatomo-functional connectivity of the limbic-striatal “social” brain. This study aimed to investigate regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) at rest. Thirteen patients with ASD of normal intelligence and ten IQ-, sex- and age-matched healthy controls (HC) underwent PET/CT using [1-11C]butanol, a perfusion tracer. As compared to HC, ASD showed significant CBF increases in the right parahippocampal, posterior cingulate, primary visual and temporal cortex, putamen, caudatus, substantia nigra and cerebellum. No statistically significant correlation between CBF and IQ was found. The limbic, posterior associative and cerebellar cortices showed increased blood flow in ASD, confirming previous findings about the neurobiology of ASD.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: Fourth edition (DSM-IV). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andersen, L. M., Näswall, K., Manouilenko, I., Nylander, L., Edgar, J., Ritvo, R. A., et al. (2011). The Swedish version of the Ritvo autism and Asperger diagnostic scale: Revised (RAADS-R). A validation study of a rating scale for adults. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

  • Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Skinner, R., Martin, J., & Clubley, E. (2001). The autism-spectrum quotient (AQ): Evidence from Asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism, males and females, scientists and mathematicians. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 31, 5–17.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brodack, J. W., Kilbourn, M., & Welch, M. (1988). Automated production of several positron-emitting radiopharmaceuticals using a single laboratory robot. International Journal of Radiation Applications and Instrumentation. Part A, 39, 689–698.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buchsbaum, M., Siegel, B. J., Wu, J., Hazlett, E., Sicotte, N., Haier, R., et al. (1992). Brief report: attention performance in autism and regional brain metabolic rate assessed by positron emission tomography. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 22, 115–125.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chiron, C., Leboyer, M., Leon, F., Jambaqué, I., Nuttin, C., & Syrota, A. (1995). SPECT of the brain in childhood autism: Evidence for a lack of normal hemispheric asymmetry. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 37, 849–860.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Critchley, H., Daly, E., Bullmore, E., Williams, S., Van Amelsvoort, T., Robertson, D., et al. (2000). The functional neuroanatomy of social behaviour: Changes in cerebral blood flow when people with autistic disorder process facial expressions. Brain, 123(Pt 11), 2203–2212.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • DeLong, G., & Heinz, E. (1997). The clinical syndrome of early-life bilateral hippocampal sclerosis. Annals of Neurology, 42, 11–17.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frith, U., & Frith, C. (2003). Development and neurophysiology of mentalizing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 358, 459–473.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frith, U., & Happé, F. (1994). Autism: Beyond “theory of mind”. Cognition, 50, 115–132.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gepner, B., & Féron, F. (2009). Autism: A world changing too fast for a mis-wired brain? Neuroscience Biobehavioural Review, 33, 1227–1242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardan, A., Muddasani, S., Vemulapalli, M., Keshavan, M., & Minshew, N. (2006). An MRI study of increased cortical thickness in autism. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 1290–1292.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hazlett, E., Buchsbaum, M., Hsieh, P., Haznedar, M., Platholi, J., LiCalzi, E., et al. (2004). Regional glucose metabolism within cortical Brodmann areas in healthy individuals and autistic patients. Neuropsychobiology, 49, 115–125.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heh, C., Smith, R., Wu, J., Hazlett, E., Russell, A., Asarnow, R., et al. (1989). Positron emission tomography of the cerebellum in autism. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 242–245.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Herbert, M. (2005). Large brains in autism: The challenge of pervasive abnormality. Neuroscientist, 11, 417–440.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Herscovitch, P., Raichle, M. E., Kilbourn, M. R., & Welch, M. J. (1987). Positron emission tomographic measurement of cerebral blood flow and permeability-surface area product of water using [15O]water and [11C]butanol. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 7, 527–542.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Just, M., Cherkassky, V., Keller, T., & Minshew, N. (2004). Cortical activation and synchronization during sentence comprehension in high-functioning autism: Evidence of underconnectivity. Brain, 127, 1811–1821.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, D., Redcay, E., & Courchesne, E. (2006). Failing to deactivate: Resting functional abnormalities in autism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103, 8275–8280.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Risi, S., Lambrecht, L., Cook, E. J., Leventhal, B., DiLavore, P., et al. (2000). The autism diagnostic observation schedule-generic: A standard measure of social and communication deficits associated with the spectrum of autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 205–223.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, K., & Kirk, I. (2008). Brief report: atypical social cognition and social behaviours in autism spectrum disorder: A different way of processing rather than an impairment. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 1989–1997.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Quarles, R. P., Mintun, M. A., Larson, K. B., Markham, J., MacLeod, A. M., & Raichle, M. E. (1993). Measurement of regional cerebral blood flow with positron emission tomography: A comparison of [1SO]water to [11C]butanol with distributed-parameter and compartmental models. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 13, 733–747.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Raichle, M., Eichling, J., Straatmann, M., Welch, M., Larson, K., & Ter-Pogossian, M. (1976). Blood-brain barrier permeability of 11C-labeled alcohols and 15O-labeled water. The American Journal of Physiology, 230, 543–552.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rumsey, J. M., Duara, R., Grady, C., Rapoport, J., Margolin, R., Rapoport, S., et al. (1985). Brain metabolism in autism. Resting cerebral glucose utilization rates as measured with positron emission tomography. Archives of General Psychiatry, 42, 448–455.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rumsey, J. M., & Ernst, M. (2000). Functional neuroimaging of autistic disorders. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 6, 171–179.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rydén, E., & Bejerot, S. (2008). Autism spectrum disorders in an adult psychiatric population. A naturalistic cross-sectional controlled study. Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 5, 13–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saha, G. B., MacIntyre, W. J., & Go, R. T. (1994). Radiopharmaceuticals for brain imaging. Seminars of Nuclear Medicine, 24, 324–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sahlander, C., Mattsson, M., & Bejerot, S. (2008). Motor function in adults with Asperger’s disorder: A comparative study. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 24, 73–81.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, W. (1993). Circadian clockwork. Science, 261, 772–773.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sheehan, D., & Lecrubier, Y. (2006). Mini-international neuropsychiatric interview (M.I.N.I.).5.0.0.c. Swedish version.

  • Siegel, B. J., Asarnow, R., Tanguay, P., Call, J., Abel, L., Ho, A., et al. (1992). Regional cerebral glucose metabolism and attention in adults with a history of childhood autism. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 4, 406–414.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wing, L. (1997). The autistic spectrum. Lancet, 350, 1761–1766.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Witwer, A., & Lecavalier, L. (2008). Examining the validity of autism spectrum disorder subtypes. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 1611–1624.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zilbovicius, M., Garreau, B., Tzourio, N., Mazoyer, B., Bruck, B., Martinot, J., et al. (1992). Regional cerebral blood flow in childhood autism: A SPECT study. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 924–930.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Authors wish to thank Psykiatrifonden, C.M. Lerici Foundation, Stockholm, Sweden, Praktikertjänst AB, Stockholm, Sweden; Stockholm County Council and Dipartimento per i Rapporti Internazionali, National Research Council (CNR), Italy for financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    Marco Pagani, Richard Odh, Robert Hatherly, Fredrik Brolin, Hans Jacobsson & Stig A. Larsson

  2. Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, CNR, Via Palestro 32, 00185, Rome, Padua, Italy

    Marco Pagani & Dario Salmaso

  3. Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Irina Manouilenko, Sharon Stone-Elander & Susanne Bejerot

Authors
  1. Marco Pagani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Irina Manouilenko
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sharon Stone-Elander
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Richard Odh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Dario Salmaso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Robert Hatherly
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Fredrik Brolin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Hans Jacobsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Stig A. Larsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Susanne Bejerot
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marco Pagani.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pagani, M., Manouilenko, I., Stone-Elander, S. et al. Brief Report: Alterations in Cerebral Blood Flow as Assessed by PET/CT in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder with Normal IQ. J Autism Dev Disord 42, 313–318 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1240-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1240-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation