Sign Of Autism Can Be Seen In Infants

Editor's Choice
Academic Journal
Main Category: Autism
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 27 Jan 2012 - 14:00 PST

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

A recent study that took place at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, and was published in the January edition of Current Biology, states that detecting autism symptoms in babies as young as 6 months old can help to determine how the autism will develop later in the child's life. The researches found that babies show signs of autism in their first year of life. When the babies are looked at, or when someone looks away from them, their brain responds differently compared to other babies.

Professor Mark Johnson, MRC scientist and head of the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck, lead the study. He said:

The study is only a first step toward earlier diagnosis, but our findings demonstrate for the first time that direct measures of the brain functioning during their first year of life associate with a later diagnosis of autism - well before the emergence of behavioral symptoms.

At present, most children are diagnosed with autism after the age of 2. These diagnoses are made after carefully evaluating the child for the first 2 years. Johnson and team analyzed children ages 6 to 10 months old who had either a brother or sister with autism, because these children had a greater chance of developing the condition themselves.

To determine their findings, the researches put passive sensors on the children's heads to determine their brain activity when observing someone looking at them and then looking away, and the other way around. The reason this is important is because face-to-face socializing is a very important factor in human interactions and behavior. Children who have been diagnosed with autism tend to inhibit out of the ordinary eye contact and brain response patterns.

Johnson states:

At this age, no behavioral markers of autism are yet evident, and so measurements of brain function may be a more sensitive indicator of risk.

His study shows that infant brains that will eventually show autism already process information differently as tiny babies. The study did, however, determine that not all babies showed irregular brain patterns and were later diagnosed with autism. Also, some infants who did show the irregular patterns did not end up having autism later on in life.

Professor Christopher Kennard, Chair of the MRC's Neuroscience and Mental Health funding board stated:

This is a very interesting study which suggests that early signs of brain responses to eye contact can contribute to an earlier diagnosis for children at high risk of autism; crucial for ensuring that they receive appropriate care. An investment like this can improve our understanding of the basis of autism, which hopefully will lead to new ways of treating those affected in the future and so dramatically affect the quality of life for patients and their families.

Professor Tony Charman of the Centre for Research in Autism and Education at the Institute of Education co-led this study. It was funded by the UK Medical Research Council and the BASIS funding consortium led by Autistica.

Written By Christine Kearney
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

• Additional
• References
• Citations