Superior temporal sulcus folding, functional network connectivity, and autistic-like traits in a non-clinical population.

Background: Autistic-like traits (ALT) are prevalent across the general population and might be linked to some facets of a broader autism spectrum disorder (ASD) phenotype. Recent studies suggest an association of these traits with both genetic and brain structural markers in non-autistic individuals, showing similar spatial location of findings observed in ASD and thus suggesting a potential neurobiological continuum.

Methods: In this study, we first tested an association of ALTs (assessed with the AQ questionnaire) with cortical complexity, a cortical surface marker of early neurodevelopment, and then the association with disrupted functional connectivity.

Recovery of Biventricular Function After Catheter Intervention or Surgery for Neonatal Coarctation of the Aorta.

Background: Critical coarctation of the aorta (CoA) is a life-threatening condition in newborns that is associated with biventricular dysfunction.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine clinical outcome and echocardiographic changes in isthmus diameter and biventricular function in newborns with critical CoA treated with balloon dilation/stent placement or surgery.

Methods: This is a retrospective single-center cohort study of 26 consecutive neonates with isolated critical CoA, who underwent transcatheter intervention (balloon angioplasty/stent; n = 10) or surgical CoA-repair (n = 16) (2012-2021).

Full recovery of right ventricular systolic function in children undergoing bilateral lung transplantation for severe PAH.

Background: We investigated whether RV function recovers in children with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and RV failure undergoing lung transplantation (LuTx).

Methods: Prospective observational study of 15 consecutive children, 1.9 to 17.

"I Spy with my Little Eye, Something that is a Face…": A Brain Network for Illusory Face Detection.

The most basic aspect of face perception is simply detecting the presence of a face, which requires the extraction of features that it has in common with other faces. Putatively, it is caused by matching high-dimensional sensory input with internal face templates, achieved through a top-down mediated coupling between prefrontal regions and brain areas in the occipito-temporal cortex ("core system of face perception"). Illusory face detection tasks can be used to study these top-down influences.

Associations of subclinical autistic-like traits with brain structural variation using diffusion tensor imaging and voxel-based morphometry.

Background: Previous case-control studies of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) have identified altered brain structure such as altered frontal and temporal cortex volumes, or decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) within the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus in patients. It remains unclear whether subclinical autistic-like traits might also be related to variation in these brain structures.

Methods: In this study, we analyzed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of 250 psychiatrically healthy subjects phenotyped for subclinical autistic-like traits using the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ).