Functional magnetic resonance imaging in children with Asperger's syndrome

Asperger's syndrome is a pervasive developmental disorder of unknown etiolo gy. We evaluated children with this syndrome (n = 9) and control (n = 8) ch ildren by functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during a task involvi ng social judgment. All control and 5 of 9 subjects with Asperger's syndrom e showed signal intensity changes in frontal regions. Four patients with As perger's syndrome, including one case with right frontal dysplasia, had no signal intensity change during the task. In this first functional MRI study of childhood Asperger's syndrome, frontal activation patterns demonstrated some differences between patients and normal subjects. Further studies usi ng other functions frequently impaired in Asperger's syndrome are warranted .