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Repetitive behaviour and inhibitory control deficits are core features of autism; and it has been suggested that they result from differences in the anatomy of striatum; and/or the ‘connectivity’ of subcortical regions to frontal cortex. There are few studies, however, that have measured the micro-structural organisation of white matter tracts connecting striatum and frontal cortex.

To investigate differences in bulk volume of striatum and micro-structural organisation of fronto-striatal white matter in people with autism; and their association with repetitive behaviour and inhibitory control.

We compared the bulk volume of striatum (caudate nucleus, putamen and nucleus accumbens) and white matter organisation of fronto-striatal tracts using (respectively) structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) and tract specific diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measures in 21 adults with autism and 22 …