Conduction velocity, G-ratio, and extracellular water as microstructural characteristics of autism spectrum disorder

This study is the first to reveal that ASD involves MRI-measurablein vivo differences of myelin and axonal development with implications for neuronal and behavioral function. We also introduce a novel formulation for calculating aggregate conduction velocity, that is highly sensitive to these changes. We conclude that ASD may be characterized by otherwise intact structural connectivity but that functional connectivity may be attenuated by network properties affecting neural transmission speed. This effect may explain the putative reliance on local connectivity in contrast to more distal connectivity observed in ASD.
Source: PLoS One - Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Source Type: research