Social brain maturation differs in newborns vulnerable to autism spectrum disorders

Having a first-degree relative with ASD was badociated with dysmaturation of the social brain circuits in the newborn, according to data from a study published in the US. JAMA Network open now.

The investigators extracted data from the European brain imaging study in children, for whom term newborns (> 37 weeks) underwent magnetic resonance imaging with a dedicated neonatal brain imaging system. Imaging was performed between June 23, 2015 and August 1, 2018 at St. Thomas Hospital in London, England. Newborns with (R⁺) and without (R^–) a first-degree relative with ASD was selected for inclusion. The brain regions responsible for the social function were selected for badysis; the level of synchronous activity within each region has been used as a metric of local functional connectivity.

The last cohort included 18 R⁺ infants (13 boys, median value [range] postmenstrual age on examination, 42.93 [40.00-44.86] weeks) and 18 R^– infants (13 boys, median value [range] postmenstrual age on examination, 42,50 [39.29-44.58] weeks). Newborns who were R⁺ showed significantly higher levels of synchronous activity in right posterior fusiform and left parietal cortex (both P = 0.04) relative to their R^– counterparties. Significant group × age interactions were identified in the left insula (P = 0.04), right and left anterior cingulate (both P = 0.03) and the left and right posterior cingulate cortex (both P = 0.03). More specifically, R⁺ babies showed greater synchronous activity in these regions compared to R^– infants at a younger post-menstrual age, whereas those digitized when they were older showed the opposite. Among R^– in neonates, there was a clear pattern of increased maturity of synchronous activity during the post-menstrual period of 39 to 45 weeks, while a slight decrease in R⁺ infants.

The researchers suggested replicating the study with a larger data set and longitudinal design. They also recognized the "novelty" of inclusion in the study of a parent with ASD as a risk of developing ASD in offspring.

Vulnerable newborns with ASDs exhibited significant differences in levels of synchronous activity and maturation within central components of the social brain, suggesting that an ASD-related deviation in brain maturation typical could happen in utero.

"Future studies of fetal and neonatal imaging will help map the development of the social brain and could usefully examine what … could alter activity in the typical infant or even what could normalize aberrant activity in children vulnerable to adverse outcomes, "the researchers concluded.

Reference

Ciarrusta J, O'Muircheartaigh J, Dimitrova R, et al. Functional maturation of the social brain in the newborn with and without a family history of autism spectrum disorder. JAMA Netw Open. 2019; 2 (4): 191868

This article originally appeared in Psychiatry Advisor