Journal of Psychiatry

Examining the Relationship between Verbal Fluency and Brain Morphometry in Boys and Girls with Autism Spectrum Disorders

28^th International Conference on Psychiatry and Mental Health

November 20-21, 2017 Melbourne, Australia

Christina Chen and John Van Horn

University of Southern California, USA

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Psychiatry

Abstract:

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a mental health condition associated with communication deficits. Previous studies have examined the relationship between the left superior temporal gyrus and receptive language ability in children with ASD [1]. However, little is known about the neural substrates behind verbal fluency in boys and girls with ASD. Our goal is to examine the brain regions involved in verbal fluency in boys with ASD, relative to girls. Methods: Five research institutions were involved in data collection: USC, UCLA, Seattle Childrenâ??s Institute, Harvard, and Yale. The sample included 73 boys with ASD, 62 girls with ASD, 59 typically developing (TD) boys, and 48 TD girls, ages 7 to 17. Diagnosis was based on the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised [2] and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule- II [3]. Verbal fluency was defined as oneâ??s ability to formulate sentences, evaluated by the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Scale [4]. Freesurfer[5] was used to determine gray mattervolumes for regions of interest known to be related to language: left and right thalamus, inferior frontal cortex, and superior temporal cortex. Hierarchical multiple regressions and MANOVA were performed, with sex and diagnosis as independent variables while age, pubertal status, handedness, and intracranial volume served as controls. Results: There was a main effect of sex (p=.011) and diagnosis (p<.001) on the ability to formulate sentences. A sex by diagnosis interaction was discovered on the left inferior frontal cortex (LIFC) (p=.045), while a main effect of diagnosis was found on the right superior temporal cortex (p=.006). LIFC significantly predicted formulated sentence scores (p=.003).Conclusion: TDboysdisplayedsignificantlygreaterLIFCthanboyswithASD, indicating that afailureoflefthemisphericlateralizationforverbalfluencymaydependondiagnosis. Furthermore, theLIFCvolume, previously discovered to be related to spoken sentences with world knowledge anomalies[6],mayalso beimplicatedin expressiveverbalfluency.
References
1. Bigler, E.D., et al., Superior temporal gyrus, language function, and autism. Dev Neuropsychol, 2007. 31(2): p. 217-38.
2. Lord, C., M. Rutter, and A. Le Couteur, Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised: a revised version of a diagnostic interview for caregivers of individuals with possible pervasive developmental disorders. J Autism Dev Disord, 1994. 24(5): p. 659-85.
3. Lord C, R.M., DiLavore PC, Risi S, Gotham K, Bishop S., Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2) Manual (Part I): Modules 1â??4. 2012, Torrance, CA: Western Psychological Services.
4. Wiig, E.H., Semel, E., Secord, W.A., Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Fifth Edition. 2013, Bloomington, MN: NCS Pearson.
5. Dale, A.M., B. Fischl, and M.I. Sereno, Cortical surface-based analysis. I. Segmentation and surface reconstruction. Neuroimage, 1999. 9(2): p. 179-94.
6. Tesink, C.M., et al., Neural correlates of language comprehension in autism spectrum disorders: when language conflicts with world knowledge. Neuropsychologia, 2011. 49(5): p. 1095-104

Biography :

Christina Chen is a PhD candidate in Neuroscience at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. She has presented her research at many international scientific conferences and published peer-reviewed articles on sex differences in autism spectrum disorders. Her current interests include examining the brain structure of boys versus girls with autism exhibiting language deficits and restricted repetitive behavior.

Email: chencs@usc.edu