Cognitive Neuroscience of Autism Spectrum Disorders

NCT01031407 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: 10002710-M-0027
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 678
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Background:

• Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of developmental disorders that affect communication, social interaction, and behavior. Relatively little is known about the relationship between genetics and behavior among these individuals and their close relatives. Researchers are interested in using interviews and rating scales to better understand these issues, as well as collecting brain scan data and genetic samples for testing and comparison.
• By comparing test results and genetic samples from healthy volunteers, people with ASD, and parents (or caregivers or legal guardians) of the first two groups, researchers hope to better understand the neuroscience of ASD. Objectives:
• To learn more about the brain in healthy people and in people with autism spectrum disorders.
• To study genes that might be involved in autism spectrum disorders by collecting DNA samples from participants. Eligibility: The following groups of participants will be eligible for the study:
• Individuals between 5 and 89 years of age who have autism spectrum disorders.
• Healthy volunteers between 5 and 89 years of age.
• Cognitively impaired children between 5 and 17 years of age.
• Parents/caregivers/legal guardians of individuals in the above three groups. Design:
• Participants will visit the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center for research tests, which will be administered over multiple visits. Researchers will determine the specific tests to be administered based on the medical history of the study participant.
• Researchers will study the brain through interviews, tests of thinking and memory (neuropsychological tests), brain imaging with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and magnetoencephalography (MEG).
• The study will also collect blood or saliva to obtain a DNA sample.

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorders; Mental Retardation; Children; Adult; Asperger's Disorder

Keywords

Social Cognition; Autism; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI); MEG; Structural MRI; Natural History

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Cognitive and neurological phenotypes in ASD and control participants

  Cognitive tasks and neuroimaging

  Ongoing

Study Arms (3)

Group 1

Healthy Volunteers

Group 2

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Group 3

Parents of Healthy Volunteers, or Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 5 Years - 89 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Children, adolescents, and adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), controls (i.e., typically developing children, adolescents, and adults and children with mild to moderate intellectual disability), as well as caregivers/legal guardians/parents of these individuals.

You may qualify if:

• Subjects will include:
• males and females.
• years of age.
• A minimum IQ of 70
• Subjects in the ASD group will:
• meet DSM-IV criteria for one of the pervasive developmental disorders (i.e., autistic disorder, Asperger disorder, or pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified).
• meet or pass the autism cut-off score for social symptoms on the ADI and/or the ASD cut-off score from social+communication symptoms on the ADOS.
• be able to provide their own consent (for adults).
• ages 18 to 35
• in good health
• with bad memory of faces

You may not qualify if:

• All subjects, except for savants, also will be excluded if they have:
• a history of neurological insult/injury.
• substantial prenatal drug exposure known to affect later brain and behavior (e.g., cocaine, alcohol).
• severely premature birth or birth trauma.
• severe medical disorder (e.g., neurofibromatosis, hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, uncontrollable seizure disorder).
• a known genetic disorder (e.g., Fragile X or Down syndrome) that would be expected to significantly impact findings from cognitive testing and/or neuroimaging.
• Furthermore, subjects will be excluded from MRI/MEG studies, if they have:
• Healthy volunteers, except for parents of individuals with autism spectrum disorders and parents of healthy volunteers, will also be excluded if they have:
• \. a current or past history of axis I psychiatric conditions or any current usage of psychiatric medication.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): lead

Study Sites (1)

National Institutes of Health Clinical Center

Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, United States

Location

Related Publications (16)

• Lynch CJ, Silver BM, Dubin MJ, Martin A, Voss HU, Jones RM, Power JD. Prevalent and sex-biased breathing patterns modify functional connectivity MRI in young adults. Nat Commun. 2020 Oct 20;11(1):5290. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18974-9.

  PMID: 33082311 DERIVED

• Avery JA, Liu AG, Ingeholm JE, Riddell CD, Gotts SJ, Martin A. Taste Quality Representation in the Human Brain. J Neurosci. 2020 Jan 29;40(5):1042-1052. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1751-19.2019. Epub 2019 Dec 13.

  PMID: 31836661 DERIVED

• Power JD, Lynch CJ, Gilmore AW, Gotts SJ, Martin A. Reply to Spreng et al.: Multiecho fMRI denoising does not remove global motion-associated respiratory signals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Sep 24;116(39):19243-19244. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1909852116. Epub 2019 Aug 27. No abstract available.

  PMID: 31455743 DERIVED

• Ramot M, Walsh C, Martin A. Multifaceted Integration: Memory for Faces Is Subserved by Widespread Connections between Visual, Memory, Auditory, and Social Networks. J Neurosci. 2019 Jun 19;39(25):4976-4985. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0217-19.2019. Epub 2019 Apr 29.

  PMID: 31036762 DERIVED

• Smith REW, Avery JA, Wallace GL, Kenworthy L, Gotts SJ, Martin A. Sex Differences in Resting-State Functional Connectivity of the Cerebellum in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Front Hum Neurosci. 2019 Apr 5;13:104. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00104. eCollection 2019.

  PMID: 31024276 DERIVED

• Jasmin K, Gotts SJ, Xu Y, Liu S, Riddell CD, Ingeholm JE, Kenworthy L, Wallace GL, Braun AR, Martin A. Overt social interaction and resting state in young adult males with autism: core and contextual neural features. Brain. 2019 Mar 1;142(3):808-822. doi: 10.1093/brain/awz003.

  PMID: 30698656 DERIVED

• Crutcher J, Martin A, Wallace GL. Dissociations in the neural substrates of language and social functioning in autism spectrum disorder. Autism Res. 2018 Aug;11(8):1175-1186. doi: 10.1002/aur.1969.

  PMID: 30365251 DERIVED

• Avery JA, Ingeholm JE, Wohltjen S, Collins M, Riddell CD, Gotts SJ, Kenworthy L, Wallace GL, Simmons WK, Martin A. Neural correlates of taste reactivity in autism spectrum disorder. Neuroimage Clin. 2018 Apr 4;19:38-46. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2018.04.008. eCollection 2018.

  PMID: 30035000 DERIVED

• Power JD, Plitt M, Gotts SJ, Kundu P, Voon V, Bandettini PA, Martin A. Ridding fMRI data of motion-related influences: Removal of signals with distinct spatial and physical bases in multiecho data. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Feb 27;115(9):E2105-E2114. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1720985115. Epub 2018 Feb 12.

  PMID: 29440410 DERIVED

• Power JD, Plitt M, Laumann TO, Martin A. Sources and implications of whole-brain fMRI signals in humans. Neuroimage. 2017 Feb 1;146:609-625. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.09.038. Epub 2016 Oct 15.

  PMID: 27751941 DERIVED

• Power JD. A simple but useful way to assess fMRI scan qualities. Neuroimage. 2017 Jul 1;154:150-158. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.08.009. Epub 2016 Aug 7.

  PMID: 27510328 DERIVED

• Eisenberg IW, Wallace GL, Kenworthy L, Gotts SJ, Martin A. Insistence on sameness relates to increased covariance of gray matter structure in autism spectrum disorder. Mol Autism. 2015 Oct 1;6:54. doi: 10.1186/s13229-015-0047-7. eCollection 2015.

  PMID: 26435832 DERIVED

• Martin A. GRAPES-Grounding representations in action, perception, and emotion systems: How object properties and categories are represented in the human brain. Psychon Bull Rev. 2016 Aug;23(4):979-90. doi: 10.3758/s13423-015-0842-3.

  PMID: 25968087 DERIVED

• Plitt M, Barnes KA, Martin A. Functional connectivity classification of autism identifies highly predictive brain features but falls short of biomarker standards. Neuroimage Clin. 2014 Dec 24;7:359-66. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2014.12.013. eCollection 2015.

  PMID: 25685703 DERIVED

• Kenworthy L, Wallace GL, Birn R, Milleville SC, Case LK, Bandettini PA, Martin A. Aberrant neural mediation of verbal fluency in autism spectrum disorders. Brain Cogn. 2013 Nov;83(2):218-26. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2013.08.003. Epub 2013 Sep 18.

  PMID: 24056237 DERIVED

• Gotts SJ, Jo HJ, Wallace GL, Saad ZS, Cox RW, Martin A. Two distinct forms of functional lateralization in the human brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Sep 3;110(36):E3435-44. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1302581110. Epub 2013 Aug 19.

  PMID: 23959883 DERIVED

Related Links

• NIH Clinical Center Detailed Web Page

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Asperger Syndrome; Intellectual Disability; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Autistic Disorder

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Christopher I Baker, Ph.D.

  National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: NIH
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 11, 2009
• First Posted: December 14, 2009
• Study Start: February 21, 2010
• Last Updated: May 29, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-05-27

Locations

US (1)