A pilot investigation of neuroimaging predictors for the benefits from pivotal response treatment for children with Autism

Publication date: Available online 5 February 2019Source: Journal of Psychiatric ResearchAuthor(s): John P. Hegarty, Grace W. Gengoux, Kari L. Berquist, M. Estefanía Millán, Serena M. Tamura, Shweta Karve, Margaret D. Rosenthal, Jennifer M. Phillips, Antonio Y. HardanAbstractChildren with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently exhibit language delays and functional communication deficits. Pivotal response treatment (PRT) is an effective intervention for targeting these skills; however, similar to other behavioral interventions, response to PRT is variable across individuals. Thus, objective markers capable of predicting treatment response are critically-needed to identify which children are most likely to benefit from this intervention. In this pilot study, we investigated whether structural neuroimaging measures from language regions in the brain are associated with response to PRT. Children with ASD (n = 18) who were receiving PRT to target their language deficits were assessed with MRI at baseline. T1-weighted images were segmented with FreeSurfer and morphometric measures of the primary language regions (inferior frontal (IFG) and superior temporal (STG) gyri) were evaluated. Children with ASD and language deficits did not exhibit the anticipated relationships between baseline structural measures of language regions and baseline language abilities, as assessed by the number of utterances displayed during a structured laboratory observation (SLO). Interestingly, t...
Source: Journal of Psychiatric Research - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research