Interaction between Gut and Brain in High-Functioning Autism: from Phenotypes to Specific Imaging Endophenotypes

We base on the concept of the brain-gut axis and expect to identify brain imaging biomarkers that will help early diagnosis of high-functioning autism and Asperger's syndrome. The ultimate goal of this proposal is to clarify the interaction between the brain and the intestine in patients with high-functioning autism and the effects of probiotics to the brain imaging biomarkers in high-functioning autism. In order to provide effective treatment, pre-clinical diagnosis is a very important indicator. Brain imaging biomarkers for autism spectrum disorders who have no obvious brain lesions is a potential diagnostic tools. Because of the different time resolution and the spatial resolution of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Magnetoencephalography (MEG), a multimodality study may provide more information to solve the puzzles of the human brain, especially for discovering the brain imaging biomarkers of autism. Moreover, the brain-gut axis is a very popular topic in recent years, and there is a significant correlation between the distribution of intestinal microbiomes and the severity of core symptoms of autism according to previous studies. However, associations between the distribution of intestinal microbiomes and the structural or functional alterations in the human brains are still unclear. Therefore, we have three specific aims to clarify the brain-gut interaction in adolescents with high-functioning autism. Aim 1: To clarify the differences of the brain-gut interaction between adolescents with high-functioning autism and typical development adolescents. Aim 2: To clarify the differences of the brain-gut interaction between adolescents with high-functioning autism and unaffected siblings. Aim 3: To investigate the relationship between the distribution of intestinal microbiomes and the brain imaging biomarkers after probiotics intervention (group 1 take probiotics, group 2 take probiotics and curcumin) in patients with high-functioning autism. The results of aim 1 and aim 2 can help us to identify the brain imaging biomarkers of high-functioning autism. The results of aim 3 can help us to clarify the effects of the probiotics intervention to the imaging biomarkers. We expect the interaction of the brain and the intestine will be the key point of follow-up clinical application, including the early diagnosis and appropriate interventions of high-function autism.