fMRI reveals neurotransmitter imbalance, brain disconnectivity in autistic patients
A group of researchers from the University of Missouri (MU) may have discovered two tests that could guide physicians to better treat regions of the brain responsible for communication and language.
MU researchers used functional MRI (fMRI) and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) to identify a link between a neurotransmitter imbalance and brain connectivity between the two regions of the brain that cause social communication difficulties for autistic children, according to a University of Missouri School of Medicine news release published June 5.
“One of the issues with approaching treatment of autism is there are many subtypes and many different genes and potentially other factors that contribute to the disorder,” said David Beversdorf, MD, a professor of radiology, neurology and psychology at the MU School of Medicine and the Thompson Center, in a prepared statement. “If you have a treatment that works in one sub-population, it might not work in another. However, if we can determine why that is, we can pursue individualized approaches and make a lot more progress in developing new treatments.”
Fourteen adolescents and adults diagnosed with autism and 12 control participants underwent fMRI brain scans and completed questionnaires to rate symptom severity and language/social competence skills.
The fMRIs revealed a potential link between functional connectivity, neurotransmitter imbalance and listening comprehension. Furthermore, participants with low functional connectivity had a reduced balance of excitatory to inhibitory neurotransmitter levels in the cerebellum and showed impaired listening comprehension.
“This finding begins to suggest how biomarkers relate with each other in autism,” Beversdorf said. “There may be whole other sets of biomarkers that may be inter-related and may be telling us something. It may serve as a biomarker to predict who will respond to what drug.”
A recent graduate from Dominican University (IL) with a bachelor’s in journalism, Melissa joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering all aspects of health imaging. She’s a fan of singing and playing guitar, elephants, a good cup of tea, and her golden retriever Cooper.