Date of Award

5-2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Program

Psychology

Department

Psychology

Major Professor

Knaus, Tracey

Second Advisor

Beaton, Elliott

Third Advisor

Scalco, Matthew

Abstract

Thalamocortical tracts related to language have rarely been examined in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We examined the medial geniculate nucleus (MGN), Heschl’s gyrus (HG), and planum temporale (PT) volumes, and the connections from MGN to HG and MGN to PT, using MRIs from 39 children with ASD (20 with receptive language impairment, 19 without) and 20 typically developing controls, aged 5-17 years. In children with ASD without language impairment, MGN volume was positively correlated with receptive language scores. Additionally, the thalamus was smaller in children with ASD with language impairment, correlating negatively with receptive language scores in this group. Left PT volume was larger than right, but this did not differ by group. Notably, there were no group differences in the integrity of thalamocortical pathways. These results suggest that while some structural variations correlate with language ability, thalamocortical pathway integrity alone is not sufficient to explain language outcomes in ASD.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.

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