Linking Brain Morphometry to Psychometric Measures and Energy‐Metabolic Biomarkers in Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Eleonora Esposto, Kathrin Nickel, Dominique Endres, Kimon Runge, Katharina Domschke, Thomas Lange, Marco Reisert, Anke Schumann, Cinzia Niolu, Ludger Tebartz van Elst, Simon Maier · 2026
Read Linking Brain Morphometry to Psychometric Measures and Energy‐Metabolic Biomarkers in Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder by Eleonora Esposto, Kathrin Nickel, Dominique Endres, Kimon Runge, Katharina Domschke, Thomas Lange, Marco Reisert, Anke Schumann, Cinzia Niolu, Ludger Tebartz van Elst, Simon Maier (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13377343.txt.
Description
Esposto and colleagues link brain structure to metabolic markers in adults with autism spectrum disorder, in 2026 neuroimaging research. The study scanned 145 adults, 74 with autism and 71 controls, using 3-Tesla MRI to measure cortical thickness and brain volumes, plus magnetic resonance spectroscopy for brain lactate, a fuel-use signal. Blood markers of mitochondrial and energy metabolism, including acylcarnitine molecules, were measured alongside symptom scales for autism and ADHD traits in both groups.
Adults with autism showed significantly larger caudate volumes on both sides than controls. Within the autism group, stronger childhood ADHD symptoms correlated with thinner cortex across multiple frontal and temporal regions. Metabolic markers tied into the anatomy: one acylcarnitine, C5:1, rose with thickness of the right insular cortex, while two others correlated positively with caudate volume. Esposto argues autism's biology in adults braids brain structure with energy metabolism, and that ADHD history shapes the cortical pattern.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Eleonora Esposto, Kathrin Nickel, Dominique Endres, Kimon Runge, Katharina Domschke, Thomas Lange, Marco Reisert, Anke Schumann, Cinzia Niolu, Ludger Tebartz van Elst, Simon Maier |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 51 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |