DELAYED MATURATION OF THE FRONTAL-CORTEX IN CHILDHOOD AUTISM

Objective: The authors investigated the metabolic maturation of the fr ontal cortex in preschool autistic children. Method: Regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) in five children with primary autism diagnosed accor ding to the DSM-III-R criteria was studied longitudinally. Regional CB F in each of the autistic children was measured with single photon emi ssion computed tomography twice during their development: at the age o f 3-4 years and 3 years later. At each stage, the autistic children we re compared to an age-matched comparison group of five nonautistic chi ldren with normal development. Results: A transient frontal hypoperfus ion was found in the autistic children at ages 3-4 years; this corresp onded to the pattern of perfusion observed in much younger normal chil dren. By the ages of 6-7, the autistic children's frontal perfusion ha d attained normal values. Conclusions: Since CBF patterns in children are related to maturational changes in brain function, these results i ndicate a delayed frontal maturation in childhood autism. Such a delay ed brain maturational process is consistent with the clinical data and cognitive performance of autistic children.