An MRI study of autism: The cerebellum revisited

Abstract

We addressed the controversies surrounding the size of the neocerebellar vermis in autism and examined cerebellar size in light of recent reports of enlarged brain size in this disorder. In this study we use detailed MRI (1.5 mm) to examine the area of cerebellar lobules I through V and VI and VII and the volume of the total cerebellum in 35 autistic subjects and 36 controls. No abnormalities are not present in autistic individuals were detected, but the volume of the total cerebellum was significantly increased. We concluded that selective neocerebellar size with previous reports of regional brain enlargement in autism and also consistent with theories hypothesizing that the primary defect in autism is the result of abnormal development of distributed neural network involving a number of regions of the brain.