SynthesisTranslational psychiatry2012
Age-related change in brain metabolite abnormalities in autism: a meta-analysis of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies.
Synthesis in Translational psychiatry, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 86 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transdiagnostic reduction in cortical choline-containing compounds in anxiety disorders: aMolecular psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Neurometabolite levels in the brains of patients with autism spectrum disorders: A meta-analysis of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies (N = 1501).Molecular psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Brain GABA levels across psychiatric disorders: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis of (1) H-MRS studies.Human brain mapping · 2016Pooled it
- Mitochondrial Aspartate/Glutamate Carrier SLC25A12 and Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Meta-Analysis.Molecular neurobiology · 2016Pooled it
- Neural bases of antisocial behavior: a voxel-based meta-analysis.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2014Pooled it
- Diffusion tensor imaging studies of mild traumatic brain injury: a meta-analysis.Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry · 2012Pooled it
- Reduction of N-acetylaspartate in the medial prefrontal cortex correlated with symptom severity in obsessive-compulsive disorder: meta-analyses of (1)H-MRS studies.Translational psychiatry · 2012Pooled it
- Oxytocin's neurochemical effects in the medial prefrontal cortex underlie recovery of task-specific brain activity in autism: a randomized controlled trial.Molecular psychiatry · 2015Trial
- Cerebellar Crus I and Crus II Structure and Excitation/Inhibition Balance in Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Elevated brain glutamine levels in adults with autism spectrum disorder: A 7T MRS study.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- GABA and glutamate measurements in temporal cortex of autistic children.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2024Article
- Neurochemical differences in core regions of the autistic brain: a multivoxelScientific reports · 2024Article
- Exogenous ketone bodies and the ketogenic diet as a treatment option for neurodevelopmental disorders.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Review
- Increased cerebral lactate levels in adults with autism spectrum disorders compared to non-autistic controls: a magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.Molecular autism · 2023Article
- Prediction learning in adults with autism and its molecular correlates.Molecular autism · 2021Article
- Article
- White matter alterations in autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in relation to sensory profile.Molecular autism · 2020Article
- Transdiagnostic subtyping of males with developmental disorders using cortical characteristics.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2020Article
- Altered brain metabolites in patients with diabetes mellitus and related complications - evidence fromBioscience reports · 2018Review
- Clinical and Molecular Characteristics of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Autism Spectrum Disorder.Molecular diagnosis & therapy · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Abnormal trajectory of brain development has been suggested by previous structural magnetic resonance imaging and head circumference findings in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs); however, the neurochemical backgrounds remain unclear. To elucidate neurochemical processes underlying aberrant brain growth in ASD, we conducted a comprehensive literature search and a meta-analysis of (1)H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) studies in ASD. From the 22 articles identified as satisfying the criteria, means and s.d. of measure of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), creatine, choline-containing compounds, myo-Inositol and glutamate+glutamine in frontal, temporal, parietal, amygdala-hippocampus complex, thalamus and cerebellum were extracted. Random effect model analyses showed significantly lower NAA levels in all the examined brain regions but cerebellum in ASD children compared with typically developed children (n=1295 at the maximum in frontal, P<0.05 Bonferroni-corrected), although there was no significant difference in metabolite levels in adulthood. Meta-regression analysis further revealed that the effect size of lower frontal NAA levels linearly declined with older mean age in ASD (n=844, P<0.05 Bonferroni-corrected). The significance of all frontal NAA findings was preserved after considering between-study heterogeneities (P<0.05 Bonferroni-corrected). This first meta-analysis of (1)H-MRS studies in ASD demonstrated robust developmental changes in the degree of abnormality in NAA levels, especially in frontal lobes of ASD. Previously reported larger-than-normal brain size in ASD children and the coincident lower-than-normal NAA levels suggest that early transient brain expansion in ASD is mainly caused by an increase in non-neuron tissues, such as glial cell proliferation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.