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

Table 5 Brainstem white matter regions of interest and sensory modalities in the autistic group

Brainstem White Matter Region	Visual		Tactile		Gustatory		Auditory		Vestibular
	FWE-FA	FWE-MD	FWE-FA	FWE-MD	FWE-FA	FWE-MD	FWE-FA	FWE-MD	FWE-FA	FWE-MD
	r	r	r	r	r	r	r	r	r	r
CST	0.14	− 0.25	0.12	− 0.21	0.05	− 0.06	0.00	− 0.13	0.10	0.04
ML	0.26	-0.22	0.13	− 0.30^a,b	0.18	− 0.27^a	0.14	− 0.15	0.24	− 0.15
LL	0.28^a	− 0.35^a,b	0.17	− 0.36^a,b	0.12	− 0.27^a	0.14	− 0.16	0.15	− 0.42^a,b
FPT	0.10	− 0.18	0.01	− 0.19	− 0.06	− 0.03	− 0.06	− 0.05	0.11	0.02
POTPT	0.05	− 0.42^a,b	− 0.20	− 0.32^a,b	0.06	− 0.21	− 0.02	− 0.22	0.06	− 0.18
STT	0.16	− 0.23	0.10	− 0.29^a,b	0.07	− 0.35^a	0.13	− 0.13	0.09	− 0.21
SCPCT	0.14	− 0.17	0.24	− 0.30^a,b	0.14	− 0.17	0.03	− 0.08	0.10	− 0.19
SCPSC	0.01	− 0.09	0.01	− 0.24	0.01	− 0.12	− 0.09	0.12	− 0.01	− 0.11
ICPMC	0.11	− 0.20	0.11	− 0.39^a,b	0.08	− 0.29^a	0.07	− 0.05	0.13	− 0.21
ICPVC	0.15	− 0.19	0.14	− 0.40^a,b	0.10	− 0.28^a	0.07	− 0.09	0.06	− 0.20
MCP	0.32^a	− 0.29^a	0.40^a,b	− 0.33^a,b	0.43^a,b	− 0.16	0.13	− 0.09	0.24	− 0.20

Partial correlations account for age, sex and average head motion during DWI brain scan
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, CST Corticospinal tract
^aUncorrected p < .05
^bFalse discovery rate corrected (FDR) p < .05

ISSN: 2040-2392