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AMYGDALA CHANGES IN INDIVIDUALS WITH AUTISM LINKED TO ANXIETY


STUDY SUPPORTS EXISTENCE OF AUTISM-SPECIFIC TYPES OF ANXIETY

Date: February 10, 2022 Source: University of California - Davis Health Summary:
A long-term study finds significant changes in brain development linked to
anxiety in children with autism. The study, which included brain scans and
interviews, also provides new evidence that supports forms of anxiety specific
to autism. Share:

FULL STORY

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A long-term study involving hundreds of brain scans finds changes in the
amygdala linked to the development of anxiety in autistic children. The study by
UC Davis MIND Institute researchers also provides evidence of distinct types of
anxiety specific to autism. The work was published in Biological Psychiatry.

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"I believe this is the first study that's found any kind of biological
association with these autism-distinct anxieties," said Derek Sayre Andrews,
postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and
co-first author on the paper. "Anxiety is really salient right now with the
pandemic, and it's potentially debilitating to autistic individuals, so it's
important to understand what's happening in the brain."

The importance of the amygdala in autism and anxiety

The amygdala is a small, almond-shaped structure in the brain. It plays a key
role in processing emotion, particularly fear, and have linked it to both autism
and anxiety.

"We have known for some time that dysregulation of the amygdala is implicated in
anxiety," said David G. Amaral, UC Davis distinguished professor, Beneto
Foundation Endowed Chair and co-senior author on the paper. "We've also shown
previously that the growth trajectory of the amygdala is altered in many
autistic individuals."

Anxiety commonly occurs with autism. Previous research by Amaral and other MIND
Institute researchers has found that the rate of anxiety is .

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But until now, no one had looked at the development of the amygdala over time in
autistic individuals, in relation to different forms of anxiety.

Hundreds of brain scans

The research team used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of 71
autistic and 55 non-autistic children between the ages of 2 and 12. Children
were scanned up to four times. All were participants in the Autism Phenome
Project, a longitudinal study that started in 2006 at the MIND Institute.

Clinical psychologists with expertise in autism interviewed the parents about
their child. The interviews were done when children were 9-12 years old. They
included questions about traditional anxiety, as defined by the DSM-5, a manual
used to diagnose mental health conditions. The psychologists used the Anxiety
Disorders Interview Schedule (ADIS) as well as the Autism Spectrum Addendum
(ASA), a tool developed to tease out autism-specific anxieties.

The results showed that nearly half of the autistic children had traditional
anxiety or autism-distinct anxiety, or both. Autistic children with traditional
anxiety had significantly larger amygdala volumes compared to the non-autistic
children. The opposite was true for autistic children with autism-distinct
anxieties: They had significantly smaller amygdala volumes.

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"Previous studies were not teasing apart amygdala size in relation to these two
different types of anxiety," said Christine Wu Nordahl, a professor in the
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and co-senior author on the
paper. "We were reminded that different autistic subgroups may have different
underlying brain changes. If we had lumped both traditional and distinct
anxieties together, the amygdala changes would have canceled each other out and
we would not have detected these different patterns of amygdala development."

Nordahl and Amaral have tracked autism subgroups for 15 years in the Autism
Phenome Project and have published numerous studies advancing the field of
knowledge in this area.

"The real power of this particular study is that it tracks the trajectory of
amygdala development from age 2 to age 12 to see if there are early predictors
of these different types of anxiety -- whether there are different patterns."
Nordahl said.

Autism-specific anxiety versus traditional anxiety

Prior research has suggested that anxiety in autistic individuals is complex.
Some experience traditional anxiety, which can include fearful avoidance, in
contexts experienced by non-autistic people. But others may experience anxiety
in contexts that are distinctly specific to autism.

"It's similar, but the context in which the anxiety arises is different,"
Andrews explained. "It could be uncommon phobias like facial hair or toilet
seats, or it could be fears relating to social confusion or excessive worries
related to losing access to materials about something they're really interested
in. It's anxiety arising within an autistic context."

The research into autism-distinct anxiety is new, and the authors note that the
results would need to be replicated, but the study makes a strong case for it.

"Given that clear brain alterations are associated with autism-distinct anxiety
tends to validate the concept of the existence of this type of anxiety in
autism," Amaral said.

In fact, 15% of the participants in the study had only the distinct
autism-specific anxiety.

"You can see why it's important to acknowledge this, because these children
would be missed through ordinary screening," Andrews explained. He added that
this type of anxiety may require a specialized type of treatment. "That's why
it's important to understand the underlying biology of anxiety and autism and to
help these kids out in any way that we can."

In the future, the researchers plan to examine how the amygdala interacts with
other regions of the brain.

"We don't think the story ends with the amygdala," Nordahl said. "We recognize
that it doesn't act all by itself and it's critical to explore who the amygdala
is talking to and what it's doing through its network of connections with other
brain regions."

Coauthors on the paper included Leon Aksman of USC (co-first author); Conner M.
Kerns of the University of British Columbia; Joshua K. Lee, Breanna M.
Winder-Patel, Danielle Jenine Harvey, Einat Waizbard-Bartov, Brianna Heath,
Marjorie Solomon and Sally Rogers of UC Davis, and Andre Altmann of University
College, London.

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of California - Davis Health. Note: Content may
be edited for style and length.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Journal Reference:

 1. Derek Sayre Andrews, Leon Aksman, Connor M. Kerns, Joshua K. Lee, Breanna M.
    Winder-Patel, Danielle Jenine Harvey, Einat Waizbard-Bartov, Brianna Heath,
    Marjorie Solomon, Sally J. Rogers, Andre Altmann, Christine Wu Nordahl,
    David G. Amaral. Association of Amygdala Development with Different Forms of
    Anxiety in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 2022; DOI:
    10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.01.016

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cite This Page:

 * MLA
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University of California - Davis Health. "Amygdala changes in individuals with
autism linked to anxiety: Study supports existence of autism-specific types of
anxiety." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 10 February 2022.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220210154235.htm>.
University of California - Davis Health. (2022, February 10). Amygdala changes
in individuals with autism linked to anxiety: Study supports existence of
autism-specific types of anxiety. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 15, 2022 from
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220210154235.htm
University of California - Davis Health. "Amygdala changes in individuals with
autism linked to anxiety: Study supports existence of autism-specific types of
anxiety." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220210154235.htm
(accessed February 15, 2022).



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 * RELATED TERMS
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Amygdala changes in individuals with autism linked to anxiety: Study supports
existence of autism-specific types of anxiety
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220210154235.htm
A long-term study finds significant changes in brain development linked to
anxiety in children with autism. The study, which included brain scans and
interviews, also provides new evidence that supports forms of anxiety specific
to autism.

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