Objective To explore the central pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by comparing the difference between children with ASD and typically developing children. Methods From September, 2017 to July, 2018, ten children with ASD (ASD group) and ten typically developing children (control group) were included. ASD group was assessed with Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS) and Psychoeducational Profile-Third Edition (PEP-3). All the children accepted diffusion tensor imaging, and the differences in fraction anisotropy (FA), axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD) and mean diffusivity (MD) between them were compared, and the correlation between abnormal data and the clinical scores was explored in ASD group. Results Compared with those in the control group, FA decreased in left middle cerebellar, left peduncle body of corpus callosum, left posterior limb of internal capsule, bilateral corona radiate and bilateral longitudinal fasciculus in ASD group; while RD increased in left middle cerebellar, left peduncle body and splenium of corpus callosum, bilateral corona radiata and bilateral longitudinal fasciculus. The mental age correlated with FA of left middle cerebellar (r = 0.686, P < 0.05), and the development quotient correlated with FA of left corona radiate (r = 0.720, P < 0.05) and left peduncle body of corpus callosum (r = 0.744, P < 0.05). The scores of Expressive Language (r = 0.711, P < 0.05) and Receptive Language (r = 0.754, P < 0.05) were correlated with FA of left peduncle body of corpus callosum, while the scores of Fine Motor were correlated with FA of left middle cerebellar (r = 0.723, P < 0.05). The scores of Affective Expression were correlated with RD of left peduncle body of corpus callosum (r = -0.902, P < 0.05). Conclusion There are developmental disorders of brain white matter in children with ASD, which may involve in mentality, development and clinical features.
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