Table 3.
Trajectory of neuronal nucleus volume changes throughout the lifespan of autistic and control subjects
| Brain region | Autism | Control | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | B | C | Diff % P value | Diff % P value | A | B | C | Diff % P value | Diff % P value | |
| 4–8 y | 11–23 y | 36–60 y | A/B | A/C | 4–8 y | 14–23 y | 29–64 y | A/B | A/C | |
| Nucleus accumbens | 163 | 213 | 253 | 31% 0.911 | 55% 0.904 | 281 | 226 | 239 | −20% 0.001 | −15% 0.001 |
| Purkinje cells | 394 | 552 | 654 | 40% 0.226 | 66% 0.468 | 575 | 561 | 569 | −2% 0.000 | −1 0.402 |
| Claustrum | 233 | 255 | 307 | 9% 0.081 | 32% 0.000 | 395 | 360 | 267 | −9% 0.001 | −32 0.000 |
| Thalamus | 371 | 433 | 581 | 17% 0.533 | 57% 0.000 | 645 | 439 | 462 | −32% 0.000 | −28% 0.000 |
| Globus pallidus | 503 | 479 | 489 | −5% 0.357 | −3% 0.000 | 625 | 417 | 478 | −33% 0.001 | −24% 0.000 |
| Dentate nucleus | 305 | 489 | 501 | 60% 0.257 | 64% 0.000 | 510 | 448 | 397 | −12% 0.269 | −22% 0.008 |
| Entorhinal cortex | 408 | 444 | 484 | 9% 0.857 | 19% 0.007 | 561 | 502 | 452 | −10% 0.632 | −19.6% 0.000 |
| Amygdala | 431 | 520 | 498 | 21% 0.140 | 16% 0.732 | 606 | 595 | 548 | −2% 0.001 | −10% 0.026 |
| Magnocellular basal complex | 476 | 581 | 611 | 22% 0.000 | 28% 0.030 | 656 | 575 | 558 | −12% 0.000 | −15% 0.064 |
| Putamen | 180 | 231 | 223 | 28% 0.332 | 24% 0.830 | 246 | 244 | 213 | −1% 0.019 | −13% 0.007 |
| Caudate nucleus | 181 | 234 | 234 | 29% 0.374 | 29% 0.812 | 256 | 229 | 182 | −11% 0.003 | −29% 0.000 |
| Inferior olive | 507 | 553 | 551 | 9% 0.089 | 9% 0.000 | 613 | 525 | 508 | −14% 0.000 | −17% 0.150 |
| Magnocellular LGN | 382 | 483 | 567 | 26% 0.405 | 48% 0.002 | 455 | 457 | 502 | 0 0.255 | 10% 0.189 |
| Parvocellular LGN | 217 | 263 | 335 | 21% 0.578 | 54% 0.000 | 268 | 264 | 284 | −1% 0.503 | 6% 0.436 |
| Substantia nigra | 756 | 816 | 685 | 8% 0.911 | −9% 0.035 | 815 | 811 | 646 | 0% 0.367 | −21% 0.002 |
| Ammon’s horn | 576 | 631 | 706 | 9% 0.509 | 23% 0.888 | 702 | 702 | 683 | 0% 0.316 | −3% 0.000 |
Significance levels computed controlling for post-mortem interval, days of fixation, days of dehydration, and weight loss. Results were non-significant using a false discovery rate (FDR) of p < 0.05. A/B and A/C not bootstrapped p-value.