Figure 4

Numerical density of Purkinje cells, and neurons in the lateral nucleus in the amygdala, nucleus accumbens and in the putamen. Box plots demonstrate the considerable differences between the median numerical density (thick line within the box) of Purkinje cells (n/mm³), and between the number of neurons in the lateral nucleus in the amygdala, nucleus accumbens and putamen (thousands/mm³) in the group with autism and control groups. In the majority of individuals diagnosed with autism, the numerical density of neurons is less than the median numerical density in the control group. The upper and lower boundaries of each box represent the 75th and 25th percentiles of the data, respectively; the depth of the box thus represents the interquartile range (IQR). The "whisker" above the box is the maximum value unless any data point lies more than 1.5 times the IQR above the 75th percentile, in which case the maximum value is the 75th percentile plus 1.5 times the IQR, and the points outside it (outliers) are indicated by circles. The lower whisker and outliers are computed analogously.