Scientists Discover Link Between Brain's Structural Features and Autistic Traits in Children
Scientists have discovered significant structural differences in the brain's pathways, tracts, and thalamus between children with autism and their neurotypical peers, despite finding no functional differences. The most significant alterations were found in the pathways connecting the thalamus—the brain's sensory information processing centre—to the temporal lobe. Moreover, the severity of these alterations positively correlated with the intensity of the child's autistic traits. The study findings have been published in Behavioural Brain Research.
Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurological condition characterised by difficulties in communication, understanding others' emotions, and adapting to change, along with repetitive behaviours and habits. Despite scientific advances, diagnosis still relies solely on behavioural tests, making early detection more challenging. Therefore, researchers seek to identify biomarkers—objective biological indicators such as alterations in brain structure, genetic traits, or biochemical markers—that can aid in diagnosing ASD.
Scientists at HSE University, in collaboration with their colleagues at universities in the USA and Russia, compared the brain structures of children with autism and their neurotypical peers. The study participants included 38 children aged 7 to 14. Prior to the study, data on their nonverbal intelligence, language development, and the severity of autistic traits in areas such as social skills, attention shifting, communication, imagination, and attention to detail was collected.
The researchers closely examined the brain's white matter, a component of the central nervous system composed of myelinated axons that transmit information between different brain regions. White matter functions as a conductor, connecting different brain regions and ensuring their smooth operation.
The study also examined the functional connectivity of the thalamus, an important information-processing centre in the brain, with various cortical areas composed of neurons. The thalamus can be likened to a control room: it receives sensory signals, partially processes them, and transmits them to the cerebral cortex, where the information is analysed and transformed into conscious sensations. Studying thalamocortical functional connectivity—the mechanisms by which the activity of one area influences another one—helps understand how the brain coordinates perception and responds to the world around it.
The researchers examined 40 pathways connecting the thalamus to various regions of the cerebral cortex. Two types of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were used in the analysis: fMRI to study the functional connectivity of the thalamus, and diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI to examine the movement of water molecules within the white matter tracts connecting the thalamus to other brain regions. It was found that in children with autism, the microstructure of these pathways differs significantly from those in their typically developing peers. The scientists identified alterations in metrics related to the movement of water in tissues, which may suggest axonal damage in children with autism. A decrease in fractional anisotropy, a marker of white matter integrity, was also observed. The alterations were most pronounced in the pathways connecting the thalamus to the temporal lobes. These disorders may be linked to issues with the myelin sheath or the structure of the fibres themselves.
'We have completed two tasks. First, we applied a new method of tractographic analysis, hybrid tractography, which allows for the visualisation of white matter fibre bundles, even at their intersections. This is particularly important for studying projection pathways,' explains Alina Minnigulova, Research Fellow at the HSE Centre for Language and Brain. 'Second, we analysed the functional connectivity between the thalamus and the same cortical regions. It was found that despite the absence of functional differences, the microstructure, structure, and characteristics of these pathways are markedly different.'
The scientists also found that the more severely the white matter structure is disrupted, the more pronounced the autistic traits in children with ASD. This indicates that alterations in the brain's pathways are linked to the manifestation of autistic traits. The researchers suggest that studying the brain's white matter may be a promising direction for identifying biomarkers of these disorders.
'Currently, there is no test that can accurately diagnose autism. Our study demonstrates that examining white matter, particularly the structure of thalamic connections, can be an important area of research and, potentially, a valuable diagnostic tool in the future,' explains Minnigulova.
The study was conducted with support from the HSE Basic Research Programme.
See also:
Immersion in Second Language Environment Influences Bilinguals’ Perception of Emotions
Researchers at the Cognitive Health and Intelligence Centre at the HSE Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience have discovered how bilingual individuals process emotional words in their native (first) and non-native (second) languages. It was found that the link between word meaning and bodily sensations is weaker in a second language than in a first language. However, the more a person is immersed in a language environment, the smaller this difference becomes. The article has been published in Language, Cognition and Neuroscience.
Researchers Find More Effective Approach to Revealing Majorana Zero Modes in Superconductors
An international team of researchers, including physicists from HSE MIEM, has demonstrated that nonmagnetic impurities can help more accurately reveal Majorana zero modes—quantum states considered promising building blocks for quantum computing. The researchers found that these impurities shift the energy levels that typically obscure the Majorana signal, while leaving the mode itself largely unaffected, thereby making its spectral peak more distinct. The study has been published in Research.
New Development by HSE Scientists Helps Design Reliable Electronics Faster at a Lower Cost
Scientists from HSE MIEM have developed a new approach to modelling electrothermal processes in high-power electronic circuits on printed circuit boards (PCB). The method allows engineers to quickly and accurately predict how electronic components heat up during operation, helping prevent overheating and potential failures. The results have been published in Russian Microelectronics.
The Future of Cardiogenetics Lies in Artificial Intelligence
Researchers from the AI and Digital Science Institute at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science have developed a program capable of analysing regions of the human genome that were previously inaccessible for accurate interpretation in genetic testing. The program adapts large generative AI (GenAI) models for cardiogenetics to predict how specific mutations affect the function of individual genes.
HSE Researchers: Young Russians Have Sufficient Knowledge About Money but Lack Money Management Skills
Adolescents and young adults in Russia today are well versed in financial terminology: they know what bank cards, loans, interest rates, and online payments are. However, as researchers at HSE University have found, real money-management skills remain poorly developed among most young people. The study ‘Financial Literacy, Financial Culture, and Financial Autonomy of Youth’ has been published in Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes.
Why Weaker Competitors Give Up—and How to Keep Them in the Game
Anastasia Antsygina, Assistant Professor at HSE University’s Faculty of Economic Sciences, has developed a prize distribution model that maximises competitor engagement. She proposed revising the traditional ‘winner-takes-all’ approach and, in certain cases, offering a small reward even to those who have lost. According to her, this could increase participant motivation and make the competition more intense. The findings of her research were published in the Economic Theory journal.
HSE Researchers Compile Scientific Database for Studying Children’s Eating Habits
The database created at HSE University can serve as a foundation for studying children’s eating habits. This is outlined in the study ‘The Influence of Age, Gender, and Social-Role Factors on Children’s Compliance with Age-Based Nutritional Norms: An Experimental Study Using the Dish-I-Wish Web Application.’ The work has been carried out as part of the HSE Basic Research Programme and was presented at the XXVI April International Academic Conference named after Evgeny Yasin.
New Foresight Centre Study Identifies the Most Destructive Global Trends for Humankind
A team of researchers from the HSE International Research and Educational Foresight Centre has examined how global trends affect the quality of human life—from life expectancy to professional fulfilment. The findings of the study titled ‘Human Capital Transformation under the Influence of Global Trends’ were published in Foresight.
Scientists Develop Algorithm for Accurate Financial Time Series Forecasting
Researchers at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science benchmarked more than 200,000 model configurations for predicting financial asset prices and realised volatility, showing that performance can be improved by filtering out noise at specific frequencies in advance. This technique increased accuracy in 65% of cases. The authors also developed their own algorithm, which achieves accuracy comparable to that of the best models while requiring less computational power. The study has been published in Applied Soft Computing.
HSE and Yandex Propose Method to Speed Up Neural Networks for Image Generation
A team of scientists at HSE FCS and Yandex Research has proposed a method that reduces computational costs and accelerates text-to-image generation in diffusion models without compromising quality. These models currently set the standard for text-to-image generation, but their use is limited by high computational loads, the company said in a statement.