Protracted dendritic growth in the typically developing human amygdala and increased spine density in young ASD brains

The amygdala is a medial temporal lobe structure implicated in social and emotional regulation. In typical development (TD), the amygdala continues to increase volumetrically throughout childhood and into adulthood, while other brain structures are stable or decreasing in volume. In autism spectrum...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of comparative neurology (1911) 2018-02, Vol.526 (2), p.262-274
Main Authors: Weir, R.K., Bauman, M.D., Jacobs, B., Schumann, C.M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Amphetamines
Amygdala
Autism
autism spectrum disorder
Children
Dendritic branching
Dendritic spines
golgi‐kopsch
neuromorphology
RRID:SCR_003131
Spine
spines
Temporal lobe
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Summary:The amygdala is a medial temporal lobe structure implicated in social and emotional regulation. In typical development (TD), the amygdala continues to increase volumetrically throughout childhood and into adulthood, while other brain structures are stable or decreasing in volume. In autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the amygdala undergoes rapid early growth, making it volumetrically larger in children with ASD compared to TD children. Here we explore: (a) if dendritic arborization in the amygdala follows the pattern of protracted growth in TD and early overgrowth in ASD and (b), if spine density in the amygdala in ASD cases differs from TD from youth to adulthood. The amygdala from 32 postmortem human brains (7–46 years of age) were stained using a Golgi‐Kopsch impregnation. Ten principal neurons per case were selected in the lateral nucleus and traced using Neurolucida software in their entirety. We found that both ASD and TD individuals show a similar pattern of increasing dendritic length with age well into adulthood. However, spine density is (a) greater in young ASD cases compared to age‐matched TD controls (
ISSN:0021-9967
1096-9861
DOI:10.1002/cne.24332