ArticleBiological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging2026
Widespread alterations in white matter microstructure in autism: A multilevel meta-analysis.
Article in Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Cerebellar pathway diffusion MRI measures are linked to core autism symptoms in early adolescents aged 9 to 11 years.Brain structure & function · 2026Article
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5 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundDisrupted brain connectivity is central to understanding the neurobiological basis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been extensively used to study brain microstructure in ASD, often revealing reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) and increased mean diffusivity (MD) in white matter.
methodsWe conducted a multivariate random-effects meta-analysis with a multilevel structure to evaluate the extent to which FA and MD measures of white matter microstructure are altered in individuals with ASD compared to typically developing (TD) individuals, as well as how publication year, participant characteristics (age, sex, IQ), and laterality moderate the magnitude of the estimated differences. Our analysis included 881 effect sizes from 66 studies (N
resultsWe found a significant moderate summary effect size for FA in nine tracts (corpus callosum, corticospinal tract, thalamic radiation, arcuate fasciculus, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus [IFOF], inferior longitudinal fasciculus [ILF], superior longitudinal fasciculus [SLF], uncinate fasciculus, cingulum; Hedges' g = -0.30 to -0.50), suggesting that individuals with ASD have lower FA compared to TD controls. Additionally, we found a significant moderate-to-large summary effect size for MD in eight tracts (corpus callosum, corona radiata, corticospinal tract, arcuate fasciculus, IFOF, ILF, SLF, uncinate fasciculus; Hedges' g = 0.29 to 0.97), suggesting that individuals with ASD have higher MD compared to TD controls. Furthermore, moderators demonstrated tract- and metric-specific effects.
conclusionsOur findings highlight the complex, multidimensional nature of white matter microstructure alterations observed in ASD.
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