White Matter Microstructure of the Human Mirror Neuron System is Related to Symptom Severity in Adults with Autism

Odette Fründt; Robert Schulz; Daniel Schöttle; Bastian Cheng; Götz Thomalla; Hanna Braaß; Christos Ganos; Nicole David; Ina Peiker; Andreas K. Engel; Tobias Bäumer; Alexander Münchau

doi:10.1007/s10803-017-3332-9

White Matter Microstructure of the Human Mirror Neuron System is Related to Symptom Severity in Adults with Autism

Odette Fründt^*, Robert Schulz, Daniel Schöttle, Bastian Cheng, Götz Thomalla, Hanna Braaß, Christos Ganos, Nicole David, Ina Peiker, Andreas K. Engel, Tobias Bäumer, Alexander Münchau

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Neurology

University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Mirror neuron system (MNS) dysfunctions might underlie deficits in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Diffusion tensor imaging based probabilistic tractography was conducted in 15 adult ASD patients and 13 matched, healthy controls. Fractional anisotropy (FA) was quantified to assess group differences in tract-related white matter microstructure of both the classical MNS route (mediating “emulation”) and the alternative temporo-frontal route (mediating “mimicry”). Multiple linear regression was used to investigate structure–function relationships between MNS connections and ASD symptom severity. There were no significant group differences in tract-related FA indicating an intact classical MNS in ASD. Direct temporo-frontal connections could not be reconstructed challengeing the concept of multiple routes for imitation. Tract-related FA of right-hemispheric parieto-frontal connections was negatively related to autism symptom severity.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Volume	48
Issue number	2
Pages (from-to)	417-429
Number of pages	13
ISSN	0162-3257
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3332-9
Publication status	Published - 01.02.2018

Funding

Funding This study was supported by the Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung (2011_A37; AM), by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; SFB 936/A3/C5, A.M., A.K.E.) and by the European Union (EU, “socSMCs” - H2020-641321, AKE). Conflict of interest Odette Fründt received conference and travel funds for the MDS Congress in Berlin in 2016 by BIAL. Daniel Schöt-tle received honoria for speaking at symposia and attending symposia by Janssen-Cilag, Otsuka and Lundbeck. Götz Thomalla received fees as a consultant, lecture fees, or advisory board participation from Acandis, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Daichii Sankyo, GlaxoSmithKline, and Stryker. He received a research grant by Bayer. Christos Ganos received research support from the German Parkinson Society, and the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and is currently funded by the Volkswagen-Stiftung (Freigeist-Fellowship). Besides the abovementioned funding by the European Union and the DFG (EU, “socSMCs” - H2020-641321, DFG; SFB 936/A3/C5), Ina Peiker, Nicole David and Andreas K. Engel do not have any other conflicts of interest. Tobias Bäumer received honaria for speaking at symposia form Merz Pharmaceuticals, Ipsen Pharma, Allergan and Child & Brain and served on the scientific advisory board for Merz Pharmaceuticals. Alexander Münchau served on the scientific advisory board of the Tourette Gesellschaft Deutschland (German Tourette syndrome association) and was speaker of the Lübeck Centre for Rare Diseases. He received research grants by Pharm Allergan, Ipsen, Merz Pharmaceuticals, Actelion and got honoraria for lectures from Pharm Allergan, Ipsen, Merz Pharmaceuticals, Actelion, GlaxoSmithKline, Desitin and Teva. He furthermore obtained support from non-profit foundations or societies Possehl-Stif-tung, Lübeck; Dystonia Coalition (USA); Margot und Jürgen Wessel Stiftung (Lübeck), Tourette Syndrome Association (Germany); European Huntington Disease Network; N.E.MO. Charity supporting the research of paediatric movement disorders; Ärztekammer Schleswig-Holstein; Fortbildungsakademie der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neu-rologie; Förderstiftung des Universitätsklinikums Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH). He furthermore received academic research support by the European Union as part of the FP 7 program (HEALTH.2011.2.2.1-3, PI, 2011–2015), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, MU 1692/3-1, PI, 2010–2014/SFB 936, PI, 2011–2015 and 2015–2019/ MU 1692/4-1, PI, 2015–2017) and the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF): DysTract consortium, PI, 2015–2018. He got royalties from the publication of the book Neurogenetics (Oxford University Press). Robert Schulz, Bastian Cheng and Hanna Braaß do not have any conflicts of interest.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities

Research Areas and Centers

Academic Focus: Center for Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM)

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Fründt, O., Schulz, R., Schöttle, D., Cheng, B., Thomalla, G., Braaß, H., Ganos, C., David, N., Peiker, I., Engel, A. K., Bäumer, T., & Münchau, A. (2018). White Matter Microstructure of the Human Mirror Neuron System is Related to Symptom Severity in Adults with Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 48(2), 417-429. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3332-9

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abstract = "Mirror neuron system (MNS) dysfunctions might underlie deficits in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Diffusion tensor imaging based probabilistic tractography was conducted in 15 adult ASD patients and 13 matched, healthy controls. Fractional anisotropy (FA) was quantified to assess group differences in tract-related white matter microstructure of both the classical MNS route (mediating “emulation”) and the alternative temporo-frontal route (mediating “mimicry”). Multiple linear regression was used to investigate structure–function relationships between MNS connections and ASD symptom severity. There were no significant group differences in tract-related FA indicating an intact classical MNS in ASD. Direct temporo-frontal connections could not be reconstructed challengeing the concept of multiple routes for imitation. Tract-related FA of right-hemispheric parieto-frontal connections was negatively related to autism symptom severity.",

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Fründt, O, Schulz, R, Schöttle, D, Cheng, B, Thomalla, G, Braaß, H, Ganos, C, David, N, Peiker, I, Engel, AK, Bäumer, T & Münchau, A 2018, 'White Matter Microstructure of the Human Mirror Neuron System is Related to Symptom Severity in Adults with Autism', Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 417-429. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3332-9

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AU - Fründt, Odette

AU - Schulz, Robert

AU - Schöttle, Daniel

AU - Cheng, Bastian

AU - Thomalla, Götz

AU - Braaß, Hanna

AU - Ganos, Christos

AU - David, Nicole

AU - Peiker, Ina

AU - Engel, Andreas K.

AU - Bäumer, Tobias

AU - Münchau, Alexander

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N2 - Mirror neuron system (MNS) dysfunctions might underlie deficits in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Diffusion tensor imaging based probabilistic tractography was conducted in 15 adult ASD patients and 13 matched, healthy controls. Fractional anisotropy (FA) was quantified to assess group differences in tract-related white matter microstructure of both the classical MNS route (mediating “emulation”) and the alternative temporo-frontal route (mediating “mimicry”). Multiple linear regression was used to investigate structure–function relationships between MNS connections and ASD symptom severity. There were no significant group differences in tract-related FA indicating an intact classical MNS in ASD. Direct temporo-frontal connections could not be reconstructed challengeing the concept of multiple routes for imitation. Tract-related FA of right-hemispheric parieto-frontal connections was negatively related to autism symptom severity.

AB - Mirror neuron system (MNS) dysfunctions might underlie deficits in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Diffusion tensor imaging based probabilistic tractography was conducted in 15 adult ASD patients and 13 matched, healthy controls. Fractional anisotropy (FA) was quantified to assess group differences in tract-related white matter microstructure of both the classical MNS route (mediating “emulation”) and the alternative temporo-frontal route (mediating “mimicry”). Multiple linear regression was used to investigate structure–function relationships between MNS connections and ASD symptom severity. There were no significant group differences in tract-related FA indicating an intact classical MNS in ASD. Direct temporo-frontal connections could not be reconstructed challengeing the concept of multiple routes for imitation. Tract-related FA of right-hemispheric parieto-frontal connections was negatively related to autism symptom severity.

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White Matter Microstructure of the Human Mirror Neuron System is Related to Symptom Severity in Adults with Autism

Abstract

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