Cited by 25Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchGenetics and Neurodevelopmental DisordersAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Cross-Diagnosis Structural Correlates of Autistic-Like Social Communication Differences

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Kushki, Azadeh, Cardy, Robyn E, Panahandeh, Sina, Malihi, Mahan, Hammill, Christopher, Brian, Jessica, Iaboni, Alana, Taylor, Margot J +9 more·2021·Cerebral Cortex

Abstract

Social communication differences are seen in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), but the brain mechanisms contributing to these differences remain largely unknown. To address this gap, we used a data-driven and diagnosis-agnostic approach to discover brain correlates of social communication differences in ASD, ADHD, and OCD, and subgroups of individuals who share similar patterns of brain-behavior associations. A machine learning pipeline (regression clustering) was used to discover the pattern of association between structural brain measures (volume, surface area, and cortical thickness) and social communication abilities. Participants (n = 416) included children with a diagnosis of ASD (n = 192, age = 12.0[5.6], 19% female), ADHD (n = 109, age = 11.1[4.1], 18% female), or OCD (n = 50, age = 12.3[4.2], 42% female), and typically developing controls (n = 65, age = 11.6[7.1], 48% female). The analyses revealed (1) associations with social communication abilities in distributed cortical and subcortical networks implicated in social behaviors, language, attention, memory, and executive functions, and (2) three data-driven, diagnosis-agnostic subgroups based on the patterns of association in the above networks. Our results suggest that different brain networks may contribute to social communication differences in subgroups that are not diagnosis-specific.

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  • Previous large scale studies and meta-analyses of neuroimaging, neurophysiological and neuropsychological impairments have highlighted areas of overlap, particularly between ADHD and ASD.

    “Similarly, previous large scale studies and meta-analyses of neuroimaging, neurophysiological and neuropsychological impairments have highlighted areas of overlap, particularly between ADHD and ASD 53-56 .”

    From Candidate diagnostic biomarkers for neurodevelopmental disorders in children and adolescents: a systematic review (2023) · cites this paper as [55]

    The Introduction (page unavailable) reports overlap in neuroanatomical features across ASD, ADHD, and OCD and cites studies of shared structural and functional brain patterns. That supports the neuroimaging-overlap portion of the claim. Our copy does not establish that large-scale studies or meta-analyses also found overlap in neurophysiological and neuropsychological impairments. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  1. Robbins S. 2003. Anatomical standardization of the human brain in Euclidean 3-space and on the cortical 2-manifold [PhD thesis] Montreal: McGill University.

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Authors
Kushki, A., Cardy, R. E., Panahandeh, S., Malihi, M., Hammill, C., Brian, J., Iaboni, A., Taylor, M. J., Schachar, R., Crosbie, J., Arnold, P., Kelley, E., Ayub, M., Nicolson, R., Georgiades, S., Lerch, J. P., & Anagnostou, E.
Affiliations
  • University of Toronto (CA)
  • Hospital for Sick Children (CA)
  • Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital (CA)
  • University of Calgary (CA)
  • Queen's University (CA)
  • Department of Psychiatry, Western University, London, Ontario M6c 0A7, Canada
  • McMaster University (CA)
Corresponding author
Kushki, Azadeh
Venue
Cerebral Cortex
Published
2021-06-03
Volume
31
Issue
11
Pages
5067-5076
ISSN
  • 1047-3211 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2199
OpenAlex
W3165485765
Cited by
25
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1
FWCI
1.58
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cerebral Cortex (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Scholarship@Western (Western University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRFE–2018–00482)
  • Ontario Brain Institute (IDS–11–02)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Keywords
social communication, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, brain-behavior relationship, cortical thickness, brain surface area, brain volume, subcortical network, children
MeSH terms
Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Autistic Disorder, Child, Female, Humans, Language, Male, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

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