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Background: Iron deficiency in subcortical structures has been reported in previous studies using manually drawn regions of interest (ROIs). However, no whole-brain iron content studies in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been published. This study aimed to explore whole-brain iron content in ASD children using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and to examine relationships between clinical features of ASD and regional susceptibility values.
Methods: A total of 30 ASD children and 28 typically developing (TD) individuals who were matched for age and sex were prospectively recruited. Brain MRI scans were performed on each participant. Each brain region's susceptibility value was compared between groups, and correlations with clinical manifestations were examined.
Results: The ASD patients showed significantly higher susceptibility values than TD children in the bilateral middle temporal gyrus, left inferior temporal gyrus, left inferior parietal gyrus, right lateral occipital gyrus, right insula, and bilateral rostral anterior cingulate gyrus. Conversely, significantly lower susceptibility was observed in the right cerebral white matter of ASD children. According to correlation analysis, susceptibility values in the left middle temporal gyrus, left inferior parietal gyrus, and right lateral occipital gyrus were negatively correlated with the Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS) gross motor scores in the ASD group.
Conclusions: ASD children had aberrant susceptibility values in cortical areas, and these abnormalities might be associated with their clinical features, which may provide new insights into understanding the pathophysiology of ASD.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12888-025-07235-y | DOI Listing |
J Trace Elem Med Biol
September 2025
Department of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Children's Medical Center, Shanghai, China. Electronic address:
Objective: We previously documented that exposure to a spectrum of elements is associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there is a lack of mechanistic understanding as to how elemental mixtures contribute to the ASD development.
Materials And Methods: Serum and urinary concentrations of 26 elements and six biomarkers of ASD-relevant pathophysiologic pathways including serum HIPK 2, serum p53 protein, urine malondialdehyde (MDA), urine 8-OHdG, serum melatonin, and urine carnitine, were measured in 21 ASD cases and 21 age-matched healthy controls of children aged 6-12 years.
Alpha Psychiatry
August 2025
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, 100875 Beijing, China.
Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a multifaceted neurodevelopmental disorder marked by impaired interactions and restricted interests, the pathophysiology of which is not fully understood. The current study explored the potential therapeutic effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the neurophysiological aspects of ASD, specifically focusing on the brain's excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) balance and behavioral outcomes, providing scientific guidance for ASD intervention.
Methods: Forty-two children with ASD were randomly divided into either an active tDCS or sham tDCS group.
JMIR Res Protoc
September 2025
Department of Psychiatry, Samsung Medical Center, School of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and social communication disorder (SCD) are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by deficits in social communication that hinder social adaptation, with limited pharmacological options for therapy owing to the absence of identified biomarkers. Individuals with ASD or SCD require lifelong interventions tailored to their development stages. However, most existing interventions primarily focus on early childhood, leaving adolescents relatively underserved.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuroimage Clin
September 2025
Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Objectives: To examine associations between low cognitive-performance and regional-and network-level brain changes at ages 9-10 in very-preterm, moderately-preterm, and full-term children, and explore whether these alterations predict ASD/ADHD symptoms at age 12.
Methods: This longitudinal population-based study included 9-10-year-old U.S.
Brain Dev
September 2025
Institute of Medical Science, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju, Republic of Korea; Department of Neurology, Gyeongsang National University Hospital, Jinju, Republic of Korea.
Objective: To compare parenting stress between parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities (DDs) and to examine ASD's influence on parenting stress through mediation analysis.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 48 children with ASD (ASD group) and 77 with non-ASD DDs (non-ASD group), along with one of their parents, at the Gyeongsang National University Hospital between May 2021 and August 2024. All underwent developmental assessments and completed the Korean version of the Parenting Stress Index-4 and the Child Interactive Behavior Test (CIBT).