Mapping of excitatory and inhibitory neurometabolites in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

The understanding of pathogenesis of autism-spectrum-disorder remains unclear with various attempts at deepening the understanding of its etiology. This study focused on the relevance of neurotransmitters, gamma-aminobutyric acid as an inhibitory agent, and glutamate as an excitatory one, in specific areas of the central nervous system that are of high relevance to social interaction and cognitive processing, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Psychometric data were obtained by deploying the Social Responsiveness Scale, the Child Behavior Checklist, as well as Culture Fair Intelligence Test. The metabolite concentrations were measured non-invasively by utilising magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In total, 41 male adolescents aged 14 to 17 years were examined in a preliminary analysis for alterations in metabolite levels, 19 being high functioning autists and 22 matched neurotypical controls. No significant differences in metabolite concentrations were observed. Age showed to be no significant co-factor. Further investigations, potentially with larger study samples are necessary and other factors to investigate such as relation to level of connectivity are recommended.