Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (Jun 2015)

Brain MR Spectroscopy in Autism Spectrum Disorder- the GABA excitatory/inhibitory imbalance theory revisited

  • Maiken Kirkegaard Brix,
  • Maiken Kirkegaard Brix,
  • Lars eErsland,
  • Lars eErsland,
  • Kenneth eHugdahl,
  • Kenneth eHugdahl,
  • Kenneth eHugdahl,
  • Kenneth eHugdahl,
  • Renate eGrüner,
  • Renate eGrüner,
  • Renate eGrüner,
  • Maj-Britt ePosserud,
  • Åsa eHammar,
  • Alexander R Craven,
  • Alexander R Craven,
  • Ralph eNoeske,
  • C. John eEvans,
  • Hanne Bjørg eWalker,
  • Tore eMidtvedt,
  • Mona K Beyer,
  • Mona K Beyer

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00365
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

Read online

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) from voxels placed in the left anterior cingulate cortex was measured from 14 boys with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and 24 gender and age-matched typically developing (TD) control group. Our main aims were to compare the concentration of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) between the two groups, and to investigate the relationship between brain metabolites and autism symptom severity in the ASD group. We did find a significant negative correlation in the ASD group between Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ) and GABA+/Cr, which may imply that severity of symptoms in ASD is associated with differences in the level of GABA in the brain, supporting the excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) imbalance theory. However we did not find a significant difference between the two groups in GABA levels.

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