Understanding the Mechanisms of Autism : an MRI and Social Cognition Study

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders whose first manifestations appear early in childhood. Even if ASDs present a wide heterogeneity in clinical manifestations, abnormalities in social behavior, characterized in particular by a lack of preference for social information, remain the core of difficulties characteristic of autism.

Brain imaging investigations have revealed anatomo-functional abnormalities in autism, particularly in social brain regions. In parallel, eye-tracking studies have provided objective measures of social perception abnormalities in autism. These results illustrate the relevance of these research strategies in the context of ASD. Acquiring objective data on social behavior and linking them with brain imaging data opens up new avenues for research into the evolution of social skills during child development, and the brain changes underlying this process.

In this context, the main hypothesis of this study is that the investigation of the neural bases of autism spectrum disorders, using an approach combining multimodal brain imaging and the investigation of social behavior using eye-tracking, would make it possible not only to better describe abnormalities, but also to identify individual patterns at brain and behavioral level. This could help to better characterize ASDs with and without genetic abnormalities, an area which to date has received very little investigation. In addition, the objective measurements obtained with this approach would also enable the proposal of biomarkers, which would contribute not only to better monitoring of the disorder's evolution, but also to the evaluation of the effectiveness of new therapeutic interventions

Inclusion criteria

For subjects diagnosed with ASD or suspected of ASD :

• 3 months ≤ age < 25 years ;
• an MRI required as part of the clinical procedures
• written consent obtained from parents or legal guardians.
• Affiliated to social security

For Healthy control subjects over 3 years of age:

• between 3 and 28 years of age
• no known neurological or psychiatric pathology
• written consent obtained from parents or legal guardian.
• Affiliated to social security

For Healthy control subjects under 5 years of age:

• age between 3 months and 5 years
• who have had an MRI scan in the pediatric radiology department at Necker Hospital, which was found to be normal.
• with no known neurological or psychiatric pathology
• no opposition from legal representative

Exclusion criteria

• Contraindication to MRI (pacemaker, intracorporeal metallic body, claustrophobia).
• Impossibility for healthy volunteers to remain still during MRI