ArticleMolecular psychiatry2014
Disturbed cingulate glutamate metabolism in adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: evidence in support of the excitatory/inhibitory imbalance hypothesis.
Article in Molecular psychiatry, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 83 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
83 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 157 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neurometabolite differences in Autism as assessed with Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2024Pooled 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
- Neuroanatomical phenotypes in mental illness: identifying convergent and divergent cortical phenotypes across autism, ADHD and schizophrenia.Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN · 2018Pooled it
- Mitochondrial Aspartate/Glutamate Carrier SLC25A12 and Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Meta-Analysis.Molecular neurobiology · 2016Pooled it
- Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) for social cognition and social skills in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2018Trial
- How the Brain Interprets Pain in Autistic People: Does Sex Matter?European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Article
- A Developmental Neuroimmune Cascade Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Elevated brain glutamine levels in adults with autism spectrum disorder: A 7T MRS study.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress in autism spectrum disorder: pharmacological insights into natural antioxidants.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Multi-voxel MR-spectroscopy signatures and associations with EEG network hyperexcitability and clinical symptomatology in borderline personality disorder.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Dysfunctional neural dynamics associated with sensory phenotypes in Fragile X syndrome: insights from mouse models.Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders · 2025Review
- Identifying gut microbiota composition disparities in autistic individuals and their unaffected siblings: correlations with clinical characteristics.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- MR spectroscopic imaging and its association with EEG, CSF, and psychometric/neuropsychological findings in patients with suspected autoimmune psychosis spectrum syndromes.Acta neuropsychiatrica · 2025Article
- Autism spectrum disorder-like behaviors induced by hyper-glutamatergic NMDA receptor signaling through hypo-serotonergic 5-HTNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Intestinal Metabolome for Diagnosing and Prognosing Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children: A Systematic Review.Metabolites · 2025Review
- Morphometric MRI findings in patients with suspected autoimmune psychosis spectrum syndromes and association with EEG slowing, CSF changes, and psychometric/neuropsychological findings.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Not a Deficit, Just Different: Prepulse Inhibition Disruptions in Autism Depend on Startle Stimulus Intensities.eNeuro · 2024Article
- The impact of spectral basis set composition on estimated levels of cingulate glutamate and its associations with different personality traits.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Retinal Thinning in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2024Article
- The Impact of Genetics on Cognition: Insights into Cognitive Disorders and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms.Journal of personalized medicine · 2024Article
23 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Over the last few years, awareness of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adults has increased. The precise etiology of ASD is still unresolved. Animal research, genetic and postmortem studies suggest that the glutamate (Glu) system has an important role, possibly related to a cybernetic imbalance between neuronal excitation and inhibition. To clarify the possible disruption of Glu metabolism in adults with high-functioning autism, we performed a magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) study investigating the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the cerebellum in adults with high-functioning ASD. Twenty-nine adult patients with high-functioning ASD and 29 carefully matched healthy volunteers underwent MRS scanning of the pregenual ACC and the left cerebellar hemisphere. Metabolic data were compared between groups and were correlated with psychometric measures of autistic features. We found a significant decrease in the cingulate N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) and the combined Glu and glutamine (Glx) signals in adults with ASD, whereas we did not find other metabolic abnormalities in the ACC or the cerebellum. The Glx signal correlated significantly with psychometric measures of autism, particularly with communication deficits. Our data support the hypothesis that there is a link between disturbances of the cingulate NAA and Glx metabolism, and autism. The findings are discussed in the context of the hypothesis of excitatory/inhibitory imbalance in autism. Further research should clarify the specificity and dynamics of these findings regarding other neuropsychiatric disorders and other brain areas.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.