Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) varies widely in its presentation. While some individuals on the spectrum have no history of language delay, others experience extreme differences in behavior, social skills, and communication compared to peers. Several studies have addressed the brain differences between individuals with ASD and those with typical development, but little research has focused on how brain development might differ for those with varying presentations of the disorder.

What’s new: On March 3, 2015, the journal Autism Research published a study exploring brain differences in adults with ASD to determine whether those who had experienced language delay were neurologically different from those who had not. Every participant had an IQ in the normal range. The researchers found that the 27 individuals who had experienced language delay had thinner layers in a specific brain region than the 37 individuals with typical language development. The thickness of that brain region, commonly associated with cognition, correlated with higher verbal IQ scores.

Why it’s important: This is the first study to link verbal IQ to differences in specific regions of the brain’s outer layers. This work could help researchers understand the underlying factors leading to the variation in different cases of ASD.

Communication

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