fMRI检查为了解自我封闭症的发病机制提供帮助

 
新的研究有助于科学家理解患自我封闭症的儿童为何在解决问题方面存在困难。

使用功能性核磁共振扫描(fMRI)技术，来自Howard Florey研究所(Melbourne, Australia; www.hfi.unimelb.edu.au)的科研人员最近证实患自我封闭症的儿童，负责执行功能的大脑深层部位缺乏活性(例如，注意力、推理、和解决问题)。Ross Cunnington医生主持了这项研究，他报道说已知自我封闭症具有生物学原因，但是神经扫描研究明确显示大脑功能失调的区域可以说明患自我封闭症的儿童为何在执行功能方面存在问题。

“关于自我封闭症儿童为何出现执行功能损害的发现，有助于研发更好的治疗方法，改善患者的注意力并有助于解决疾病问题。”Cunnington医生说。“值得注意的是，我们发现尾状核的活性在自我封闭症的男孩中降低，这是连接大脑额前叶通路的关键部分。这些研究结果具有重要意义，因为额前叶大脑通路在解决问题和作出决策的过程中，在维持注意力、计划与设定目标、以及在记忆中维持目标的过程中发挥极其重要的作用。”

Cunnington医生与其他研究机构合作，评估了注意缺陷多动障碍(ADHD)儿童，发现了注意缺陷多动障碍(ADHD)儿童和自我封闭症儿童的特定执行功能区域损害的相似之处。

这项自我封闭症儿童的研究在11～18岁患自我封闭症或者Asperger综合征的儿童以及作为对照的无疾病青少年中进行。这些研究结果发表在即将出版的《美国精神病学期刊》之上。

fMRI Provides Insights into Autism
 
New research is helping to scientists to understand why children with autism spectrum disorders (autism) have problem-solving difficulties.

Utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology, scientists from the Howard Florey Institute (Melbourne, Australia; www.hfi.unimelb.edu.au) have recently demonstrated that children with autism have less activation in the deep regions of the brain responsible for executive function (i.e., attention, reasoning, and problem-solving). Dr. Ross Cunnington, who led the study, reported that autism was known to have a biologic cause, but this neuroimaging study distinctly showed the area of the dysfunction in the brain that accounted for why children with autism have problems with their executive function.

“Discovering why children with autism have impaired executive function may help develop better therapies to improve their ability to pay attention and solve problems,” Dr. Cunnington said. “Specifically, we found that activity in the caudate nucleus, a critical part of circuits that link the prefrontal cortex of the brain, is reduced in boys with autism. These findings have important implications, since prefrontal brain circuits play a critical role in maintaining and focusing attention, planning and setting goals, and keeping goals in memory during problem-solving and decision-making.”

Dr. Cunnington, collaborating with several other institutions, has also been evaluating children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and has found similarities in the impairment of certain executive functions in children with ADHD and autism.

The autism study was performed with boys aged 11 to 18 years who had autism or Asperger’s disorder, as well teenage boys without the disorder, who were the controls. The findings of this research are to be published in an upcoming issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.