Anterior cingulate folding pattern is altered in autism spectrum disorder

Neuroimaging research has identified focal differences in the cerebral cortex of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), particularly in the folds (sulci) within higher-level association cortices. This study examined sulcal patterning and morphology of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in individuals with ASD compared to neurotypical (NT) individuals. We used neuroimaging data from 100 NT and 100 ASD male participants (ages 5 to 18), split into equal discovery and replication samples. Using established criteria, we manually identified the variably present paracingulate sulcus (PCGS), a defining sulcal feature of ACC, in each participant. Quantitative morphological features (length, depth, and cortical thickness mean and standard deviation) were extracted from the PCGS using FreeSurfer. Analyses revealed that, in both samples, NT participants were more likely to have asymmetrical PCGS patterns than ASD participants (controlling for age, IQ, and scanner site). No quantitative morphological features differed between groups. These findings suggest the presence of a variation in the prenatal neurodevelopment of ACC in young males with ASD; however, further research is necessary to uncover the role of this observed difference in the pathogenesis of ASD. The present study also adds to the growing literature implicating variations in PCGS patterning as a trait marker across multiple disorders.