Jeong-Won Jeong1,2, Ajay Kumar1,2,
Rajkumar Govindan1,2, Harry T. Chugani2,3, Diane C.
Chugani2,4
1Pediatrics, Neurology,
Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States; 2PET center,
Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI, United States; 3Pediatrics,
Neurology, Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States; 4Pediatrics,
Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
The dentatothalmic pathway (DTP) is a white matter pathway connecting dentate nucleus of the cerebellum to the contralateral thalamus. Many diffusion studies suggest disturbance in the intrinsic cerebellar circuitry in autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). The present study utilized Q-ball imaging (QBI) technique to delineate the DTP in children with ASD and quantitatively assess their age-related changes in axonal anisotropy and volume. We found that the age related increase in anisotropy of right DTP and volume of left DTP was significantly higher in ASD group compared to typically developing controls, suggesting microstructural abnormalities along with developmental dysregulation of DTPs in ASD.