Investigation of Cortical and Subcortical Brain Regional Volumes in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Using Automated Segmentation

Aim: This study aimed to examine regional cortical and subcortical brain volume differences in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). By comparing the ASD group with healthy individuals, the effects of the disorder on brain morphology will be evaluated. We hypothesized that children with ASD would exhibit increased volumes in selected cortical and subcortical brain regions.Material and Methods: The brain magnetic resonance images (MRI) of 33 children with ASD and 33 healthy controls were analyzed and compared. The VolBrain automated segmentation method was used to process the MRI and detect volumetric differences. The resulting measurements were statistically analyzed to identify significant volumetric differences between the ASD and control groups.Results: The findings of this study revealed that children with ASD exhibited significantly larger volumes in the cerebrum, white matter, grey matter, frontal lobe, postcentral gyrus, amygdala, thalamus, putamen, and hippocampus compared to healthy controls (p < 0.05). However, no significant differences were observed between the groups in the volumes of the precentral gyrus, parietal lobe, and caudate nucleus (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The present findings indicate that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with widespread volumetric enlargement across both cortical and subcortical brain regions. These results contribute to a clearer characterization of the neuroanatomical profile of ASD and underscore the value of automated volumetric neuroimaging approaches for detecting disorder-related structural brain patterns.