Brain imaging studies in patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) indicate that deficits in social cognition, language, communication and stereotypical behaviors may be related to functional alterations in specific brain regions and neural networks.
Neuropathological studies indicate that a common feature in ASD is the abnormal cellular development of specific areas of the cerebral cortex. A key architectural construct of the developing cortex is that ascending apical dendrites of pyramidal neurons aggregate into vertically oriented bundles within different cortical layers. The cell bodies of these pyramidal neurons are organized radially into cytoarchitectural units called ‘minicolumns'. Dendritic bundles associated with pyramidal neurons appear in tangential sections through the cortex as discrete clusters of dendritic profiles. This project, funded by Autism Speaks (USA), will examine in detail the organization of dendrites within defined areas of the cerebral cortex of individuals with autism. The investigation will be conducted on post-mortem brain tissue obtained through the Autism Tissue Program (USA) with full ethical approval. Sophisticated 2D- and 3D-microscopic image analysis will be employed in a highly innovative manner, to obtain detailed insight into the extent to which information processing, at the level of select dendritic networks, is altered within functionally-defined brain areas in autism.
This pioneering study, led by Dr. Paul Gabbott and Dr. Payam Rezaie (Joint Investigators) aims to establish a neuroanatomic basis for the core behavioural changes observed in autism, by enabling functional alterations (behaviour) to be correlated with specific cytoarchitectural alterations in dendritic networks (neural processing) in functionally-related areas of the cerebral cortex in autism. The project represents a new partnership between Drs. Gabbott and Rezaie and builds on existing collaborations with Dr. Christoph Schmitz from Maastricht University in the Netherlands. The work extends Dr Gabbott’s research investigating the functional architecture of the cerebral cortex in several mammalian species, including humans, and contributes towards the programme of research led by Dr. Rezaie into the Neuropathology of Autism within the Department of Life Sciences. See for further details on this project:
http://www.autismspeaks.org/science/research/grants/research_we_have_funded_basic_clinical_2007.php
