Autism Research Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)

Quoted in an article from the College of Humanities & Social Science,

"These reductions in white matter integrity may underlie the behavioral pattern observed in autism of narrowly-focused thought and weak coherence of different streams of thought," said Marcel Just, director of the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging and a co-author of the latest study. "The new findings also provide supporting evidence for a new theory of autism that attributes the disorder to underconnectivity among brain regions," Just said.

A recent research done by the University Carnegie Mellon using a new technology called Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) - capable of tracking water movement in the brain - found differences in connection in brains of people with autism. It was discovered that the structure of the "white matter" of an autistic brain has a lower structural integrity than in those of normal brains. The research basically revolved around the monitoring of water movement through the brain. In the brain, water molecules move or diffuse with the aid of the coherent structures of nerve fibers of the white matter. As for those with autism, lower structural integrity such less dense or myelinated fibers can cause the movement of water to be more dispersed. Researchers found this dispersed pattern particularly in areas in and around the corpus callosum, the large band of nerve fibers that connects the two hemispheres of the brain.

Link to Carnegie U's Article
http://www.hss.cmu.edu/pressreleases/2006/061023_dti.html

An Abstract of the Research in NeuroReport
http://www.neuroreport.com/pt/re/neuroreport/abstract.00001756-200611060-00006.htm;jsessionid=FGSJ27qt2k2vQmV5ChGMK4n0dnPD2WQh2clThY2hkZz7wl4HqqHv!1287082388!-949856145!8091!-1?index=1&database=ppvovft&results=1&count=10&searchid=2&nav=search