ArticleJournal of autism and developmental disorders2018
Medial Frontal Lobe Neurochemistry in Autism Spectrum Disorder is Marked by Reduced N-Acetylaspartate and Unchanged Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid and Glutamate + Glutamine Levels.
Article in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 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
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 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
- Connections Between Prefrontal Cortex Anatomy and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Literature Review.Acta medica academica · 2025Review
- Neurometabolic profiles of autism spectrum disorder patients with genetic variants in specific neurotransmission and synaptic genes.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Specific dynamic facial expression evoked responses show distinct perceptual and attentional features in autism connected to social communication and GABA phenotypes.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Nutritional Approaches in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Scoping Review.Current nutrition reports · 2025Article
- Multimodal Morphometric Similarity Network Analysis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Brain glutathione and GABA+ levels in 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
- Heterogeneity and convergence across seven neuroimaging modalities: a review of the autism spectrum disorder literature.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Review
- Behavioral and Sensory Deficits Associated with Dysfunction of GABAergic System in a NovelInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- A neurophysiological signature of dynamic emotion recognition associated with social communication skills and cortical gamma-aminobutyric acid levels in children.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Article
- Frontotemporal neurofibrillary tangles and cerebrovascular lesions are associated with autism spectrum behaviors in late-life dementia.Journal of neurology · 2022Article
- Motor Cortex Excitation/Inhibition Imbalance in Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A MRS-TMS Approach.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Drug development for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Progress, challenges, and future directions.European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2021Review
- Modulation of Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Glutamate/Glutamine Levels Following Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Young Adults With Autism.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Article
- GABAergic System Dysfunction in Autism Spectrum Disorders.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2021Review
- Concentrations of Cortical GABA and Glutamate in Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2020Article
- A Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study of Superior Visual Search Abilities in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2020Article
- Excessive β-Catenin in Excitatory Neurons Results in Reduced Social and Increased Repetitive Behaviors and Altered Expression of Multiple Genes Linked to Human Autism.Frontiers in synaptic neuroscience · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The nature of neurochemical changes in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains controversial. We compared medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) neurochemistry of twenty high-functioning children and adolescents with ASD without associated comorbidities and fourteen controls. We observed reduced total N-acetylaspartate (tNAA) and total creatine, increased Glx/tNAA but unchanged glutamate + glutamine (Glx) and unchanged absolute or relative gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA+) in the ASD group. Importantly, both smaller absolute and relative GABA+ levels were associated with worse communication skills and developmental delay scores assessed by the autism diagnostic interview-revised (ADI-R). We conclude that tNAA is reduced in the mPFC in ASD and that glutamatergic metabolism may be altered due to unbalanced Glx/tNAA. Moreover, GABA+ is related to autistic symptoms assessed by the ADI-R.
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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.