Profiling brain morphology for autism spectrum disorder with two cross-culture large-scale consortia

Profiling brain morphology for autism spectrum disorder with two cross-culture large-scale consortia | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Profiling brain morphology for autism spectrum disorder with two cross-culture large-scale consortia Xi-Nian Zuo, Xue-Ru Fan, Ye He, Yinshan Wang, Lei Li, Xujun Duan This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6117495/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 05 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Communications Biology → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract We explore neurodevelopmental heterogeneity in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) through normative modeling of cross-cultural cohorts. Leveraging large-scale datasets from Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) and China Autism Brain Imaging Consortium (CABIC), the model identifies two ASD subgroups with distinct brain morphological abnormalities: subgroup "L" is characterized by generally smaller brain region volumes and higher rates of abnormality, while subgroup "H" exhibits larger volumes with less pronounced deviations in specific areas. Key areas, such as the isthmus cingulate and transverse temporal gyrus, were identified as critical for subgroup differentiation and ASD trait correlations. In subgroup H, the regional volume of the isthmus cingulate cortex showed a direct correlation with individuals' autistic mannerisms, potentially corresponding to its slower post-peak volumetric declines during development. These findings offer insights into the biological mechanisms underlying ASD and support the advancement of subgroup-driven precision clinical practices. Health sciences/Medical research/Paediatric research Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Cognitive neuroscience Health sciences/Diseases/Psychiatric disorders/Autism spectrum disorders Biological sciences/Psychology/Human behaviour Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 05 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Communications Biology → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6117495","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":426681062,"identity":"3e63f592-ad4b-4329-acda-177441c03a8b","order_by":0,"name":"Xi-Nian Zuo","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA3UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZgaGA1DWMQh9gHgtbGlEakEAHjPitBgc5z144OcOBnuD4z3fHhe2Mcjx3Uhg/FyAR4tkM1/Cwd4zDMwGZ85uN57ZxmAseSOBWXoGHi38zDwGB3jbGNgMbuRukwYyEjfcSGBj5sGjBShrcPBvGwOPwY2cZyAt9QS1gGw5DFQpAdTCBtKSYEBIi2QzUItsm4SB5Jlj5sY85yQMZ5552CyNT4vB+TPGH9+22djzHW9+9pinzEae73jywc/4tECBBDKDsYGwhlEwCkbBKBgFeAEAIHBD6/LTKmkAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9110-585X","institution":"Beijing Normal University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xi-Nian","middleName":"","lastName":"Zuo","suffix":""},{"id":426681063,"identity":"bbb68d8b-9524-4505-b2e4-8afbf66e17fd","order_by":1,"name":"Xue-Ru Fan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Beijing Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xue-Ru","middleName":"","lastName":"Fan","suffix":""},{"id":426681064,"identity":"0cd84e8d-1f8c-4e44-9417-b6d0c63814f7","order_by":2,"name":"Ye He","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ye","middleName":"","lastName":"He","suffix":""},{"id":426681065,"identity":"b6b39c2b-67ab-424f-8c2d-9a0e7fe28d60","order_by":3,"name":"Yinshan Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Beijing Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yinshan","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":426681066,"identity":"96d08b06-98f2-4432-bcd2-91ba46146103","order_by":4,"name":"Lei Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Electronic Science and Technology of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lei","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":426681067,"identity":"cca98327-d185-40a5-b723-9f909b4f4114","order_by":5,"name":"Xujun Duan","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8543-2117","institution":"University of Electronic Science and Technology of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xujun","middleName":"","lastName":"Duan","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-02-27 05:00:16","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6117495/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6117495/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08573-z","type":"published","date":"2025-08-05T04:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":88402496,"identity":"c63aab82-a49f-4379-bc2d-c3cab92ccb2e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-06 07:11:36","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":15749657,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"XueruFanNatureMedicine.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6117495/v1_covered_95033a47-6553-41d3-bdcc-4ecd44955485.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Profiling brain morphology for autism spectrum disorder with two cross-culture large-scale consortia","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6117495/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6117495/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"We explore neurodevelopmental heterogeneity in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) through normative modeling of cross-cultural cohorts. 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