Concentrations of Cortical GABA and Glutamate in Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder

The balance of excitation and inhibition in neural circuits is hypothesized to be increased in autism spectrum disorder, possibly mediated by altered signaling of the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), yet empirical evidence in humans is inconsistent. We used edited magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to quantify signals associated with both GABA and the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate in multiple regions of the sensory and sensorimotor cortex, including primary visual, auditory, and motor areas in adult individuals with autism and in neurotypical controls. Despite the strong a priori hypothesis of reduced GABA in autism spectrum disorder, we found no group differences in neurometabolite concentrations in any of the examined regions and no correlations of MRS measure with psychophysical visual sensitivity or autism symptomatology. We demonstrate high data quality that is comparable across groups, with a relatively large sample of well-characterized participants, and use Bayesian statistics to corroborate the lack of any group differences. We conclude that levels of GABA and Glx (glutamate, glutamine, and glutathione) in the sensory and sensorimotor cortex, as measured with MRS at 3T, are comparable in adults with autism and neurotypical individuals. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1111-1129. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate are the main inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters in the human brain, respectively, and their balanced interaction is necessary for neural function. Previous research suggests that the GABA and glutamate systems might be altered in autism. In this study, we used magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure concentrations of these neurotransmitters in the sensory areas in the brains of young adults with autism. In contradiction to the common hypothesis of reduced GABA in autism, we demonstrate that concentrations of both GABA and glutamate, in all the brain regions examined, are comparable in individuals with autism and in neurotypical adults. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.