Autism common variants associated with white matter alterations at birth: cross-sectional fixel-based analyses of 221 European term-born neonates from the developing human connectome project
Increasing lines of evidence suggest white matter (WM) structural changes associated with autism can be detected in the first year of life. Despite the condition having high heritability, the relationship between autism common genetic variants and WM changes during this period remains unclear. By employing advanced regional and whole-brain fixel-based analysis, the current study investigated the association between autism polygenic scores (PS) and WM microscopic fibre density and macrostructural morphology in 221 term-born infants of European ancestry from the developing Human Connectome Project. The results suggest greater tract mean fibre-bundle cross-section of the left superior corona radiata is associated with higher autism PS. Subsequent exploratory enrichment analysis revealed that the autism risk single nucleotide polymorphisms most associated with the imaging phenotype may have roles in neuronal cellular components. Together, these findings suggest a possible link between autism common variants and early WM development.
Authors
- A. David Edwards (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4801-7066)
- Lucilio Cordero‐Grande (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1477-304X)
- Alexandra F. Bonthrone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5487-5564)
- Serena J. Counsell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8033-5673)
- Jacques‐Donald Tournier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5591-7383)
- Alexandra Lautarescu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7680-8936)
- Maria Deprez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2799-6077)
- Alena Uus (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5796-2145)
- Charles Curtis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2992-1941)
- Daan Christiaens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8323-5451)
- Dafnis Batallé (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2097-979X)
- Anthony N. Price (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6907-7554)
- Hamel Patel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7951-6728)
- Daphna Fenchel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2352-4186)
- Harriet Cullen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2846-1621)
- Maximilian Pietsch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5581-8489)
- Joseph V. Hajnal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2690-5495)
- Konstantina Dimitrakopoulou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7159-0093)
- Hai Le (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6221-6980)
Institutions
- King's College London (GB)
- Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Biomedical Research Networking Center in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (ES)
- Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Translational Psychiatry
- Published
- 2025-02-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03252-3
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.36
Funders
- Wellcome
- Comunidad de Madrid
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- King's College London
- NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre
- Medical Research Council
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, King's College London, University of London
- Centre For Medical Engineering, King’s College London