Brain gray matter alterations and associated demographic profiles in adults with autism spectrum disorder: A meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies

Background:There is increasing evidence that children with autism spectrum disorder are accompanied by specific anatomical alterations. However, the anatomical abnormalities in adults with autism spectrum disorder are poorly understood. This study was aimed to identify the neuroanatomical substrates underlying the pathophysiology of adults with autism spectrum disorder. We also investigated the relationship between neuroanatomical alterations and clinical and demographic characteristics.Methods:A total of 13 datasets were enrolled, of which 12 studies compared whole-brain differences of 382 adult patients with autism and 393 healthy control subjects. We conducted a meta-analysis to quantitatively estimate regional gray matter volume abnormalities in individuals with autism using the effect-size signed differential mapping.Results:The voxel-wise meta-analysis revealed that relative to controls, adults with autism spectrum disorder had significantly increased gray matter volume in the middle temporal gyrus,...