Researchers at the Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (Stevens INI) at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have identified finely detailed differences in the brain wiring of children and young adults with autism, offering one of the clearest views yet into how the condition may affect communication between brain regions.

The study, published in Cerebral Cortex, examined brain scans from 365 participants aged 5 to 24. Using advanced imaging and computational tools, the team mapped small structural variations in white matter—the dense bundles of nerve fibers that link different parts of the brain and support functions such as language, social behavior, and sensory processing.

“These pathways are essential for everything from language and social interaction to sensory processing,” said senior author Katherine Lawrence, PhD. “By examining these pathways segment by segment, we could pinpoint where the wiring looks different in autism. Instead of treating an entire connection as one unit, our approach lets us see subtle changes along its length.”

Traditional neuroimaging studies have long suggested that white-matter differences play a role in autism, but results have varied widely. The USC team applied next-generation mapping tools that track changes along individual fiber tracts rather than averaging them across broad regions. This fine-grained strategy revealed localized alterations across several major pathways that connect the brain’s hemispheres and link areas involved in communication and sensory integration.

“These findings highlight the importance of developing new methods to better understand the brain using existing data,” said Gaon Kim, the study’s first author. “Rather than implicating a single region, autism appears to involve widespread differences concentrated within specific parts of affected brain areas.”

The work underscores USC’s leadership in large-scale brain mapping and advanced analytics. According to Arthur W. Toga, PhD, director of the Stevens INI, the results reinforce the idea that autism is highly variable from person to person. “Brain differences in autism are not uniform but localized and complex,” Toga said. “Understanding these patterns brings us closer to identifying meaningful biological markers and, ultimately, more personalized approaches to care.”

By combining data from multiple cohorts and using refined imaging techniques, the study is among the most detailed investigations of white-matter structure in autism to date. The researchers plan to explore how these structural differences relate to real-world abilities such as language skills, sensory responses, and social communication, and how they change across development.

The project was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Momental Foundation, and the Asan Foundation, with additional NIH support for imaging infrastructure. The authors include Lawrence, Kim, Bramsh Q. Chandio, Sebastian M. Benavidez, Yixue Feng, and Paul M. Thompson.