Brainstem white matter microstructure is associated with hyporesponsiveness and overall sensory features in autistic children

Table 4 Brainstem white matter regions of interest and sensory response patterns in the autistic group

Brainstem white matter region	Hyporesponsiveness		Hyperresponsiveness		Enhanced perception		Sensory seeking
	FWE-FA	FWE-MD	FWE-FA	FWE-MD	FWE-FA	FWE-MD	FWE-FA	FWE-MD
	r	r	r	r	r	r	r	r
CST	.30 ^a	− .22	.06	− .11	− .08	− .05	.06	− .14
ML	.23	− .41 ^a,b	.09	− .25	.07	− .20	.23	− .15
LL	.18	− .49 ^a,b	.08	− .21	.15	− .21	.20	− .33^a
FPT	.12	− .04	− .17	− .09	− .11	− .06	.08	− .13
POTPT	.15	− .30 ^a,b	− .03	− .19	− .05	− .23	− .07	− .29 ^a
STT	.10	− .42 ^a,b	.07	− .25	< .001	− .25	.17	− .19
SCPCT	.20	− .42 ^a,b	.07	− .12	− .01	− .11	.18	− .17
SCPSC	.02	− .28 ^a,b	− .08	− .07	− .11	− .03	.06	− .09
ICPMC	.18	− .35 ^a,b	.06	− .24	.14	− .20	.08	− .21
ICPVC	.16	− .35 ^a,b	.11	− .23	.14	− .20	.09	− .22
MCP	.39 ^a,b	− .30 ^a,b	.37^a	− .21	.25	− .18	.27 ^a	− .20

Partial correlations account for age, sex and average head motion during DWI brain scan
CST Corticospinal tract, ML Medial lemniscus, LL Lateral lemniscus, STT Spinothalamic tract, SCPCT Superior cerebellar peduncle cerebellothalamic tract, SCPSC Superior cerebellar peduncle spinocerebellar tract, MCP Middle cerebellar peduncle, ICPMC Inferior cerebellar peduncle tracts from medulla oblongata to the cerebellum, ICPVCT Inferior cerebellar peduncle vestibulocerebellar tract, FPT Frontopontine tract, POTPT Parieto-occipito-temporo-pontine tract
^aUncorrected p < .05
^bFalse discovery rate corrected (FDR) p < .05

ISSN: 2040-2392