Prefrontal cortex neuron numbers in children with autism

January 01, 0001

Prefrontal cortex neuron numbers in children with autism

This group of US researchers examined whether an overgrowth of prefrontal cortex (PFC) neurons was linked with autism in children. Prefrontal tissues was examined postmortem in 7 autistic and 6 control male children (2 to 16 years of age). The examiners were blinded to diagnosis. Stereological methods were used to quantify the number and size of neurons within the dorsolateral (DL-PFC) and mesial (M-PFC) PFC.

The researchers found: "Children with autism had 67% more neurons in the PFC (mean, 1.94 billion) compared with control children (1.16 billion), including 79% more in DL-PFC (1.57 billion in autism cases vs 0.88 billion in controls) and 29% more in M-PFC (0.36 billion in autism cases vs 0.28 billion in controls). Brain weight in the autistic cases differed from normative mean weight for age by a mean of 17.6%, while brains in controls differed by a mean of 0.2%. Plots of counts by weight showed autistic children had both greater total prefrontal neuron counts and brain weight for age than control children."

The researchers concluded: "In this small preliminary study, brain overgrowth in males with autism involved an abnormal excess number of neurons in the PFC."

This small study suggest a novel neurological finding in autism of increased number of neurons in the prefrontal cortex.

For the full abstract, click here.

JAMA 306(18):2001-2010, 9 November 2011 © 2011 American Medical Association
Neuron Number and Size in Prefrontal Cortex of Children With Autism. Eric Courchesne, Peter R. Mouton, Michael E. Calhoun, et al.

Category: N. Neurological. Keywords: autism, prefrontal cortex, neuron, number overgrowth, case-control, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Paul Schaefer, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 25 November 2011

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

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