Anterior cingulate folding pattern is altered in autism spectrum disorder
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract Neuroimaging research has identified focal differences in the cerebral cortex of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), particularly in the cortical folds (sulci) within higher-level association cortices. The present study investigated the sulcal patterning and morphology of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in individuals with ASD compared to neurotypical (NT) individuals for the first time. We used neuroimaging data from 50 NT and 50 ASD participants. All participants were under 20 years old and male. The two groups were age-matched. Using established criteria and cortical reconstructions generated from each participant’s T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans with FreeSurfer, we identified the defining sulcal feature of ACC, the variably present paracingulate sulcus (PCGS): its presence in the left and right hemispheres, and asymmetry in PCGS presence between hemispheres. Finally, multiple quantitative morphological features (length, depth, and cortical thickness mean and standard deviation) were extracted from the PCGS using FreeSurfer tools. Analyses revealed that NT participants were more likely to have asymmetrical PCGS patterns than ASD participants (controlling for age and scanner site). However, none of the quantitative morphological features differed between groups. These findings suggest the presence of a variation in the prenatal neurodevelopment of ACC in young males with ASD; however, further research is necessary to uncover the role of this observed difference in the pathogenesis of ASD. The present study also adds to the growing literature implicating variations in PCGS patterning as a trait marker across multiple disorders. Lay Summary This study found that young males with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show less hemispheric asymmetry in the presence of a notoriously variable brain structure (paracingulate sulcus (PCGS)) compared to neurotypical individuals. Considering that this feature of the PCGS develops before birth, the reduced asymmetry may indicate focal differences in brain development in ASD. These findings further enhance our understanding of the neurodevelopmental characteristics of ASD and highlight growing findings indicating that the PCGS may be a useful transdiagnostic marker for various psychiatric conditions.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".