Thought test hints at neural signature for autism
People with autism show unique patterns of brain activation when thinking about social words, such as ‘hug.’ But new findings highlight the dangers of using thoughts as biomarkers for the disorder.
People with autism show unique patterns of brain activation when thinking about social words, such as ‘hug.’ But new findings highlight the dangers of using thoughts as biomarkers for the disorder.
A new method for measuring severity in disorders such as autism can help researchers correct for the widely varying autism symptoms in the study participants, according to a paper published 2 May in NeuroImage.
Pairing brain imaging with simple videos that mimic social interactions can help pinpoint the brain regions responsible for inferring others’ thoughts. Researchers described this approach Sunday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.
Several studies in the past two years have claimed that brain scans can diagnose autism, but this assertion is deeply flawed, says Nicholas Lange.
Researchers have developed functional magnetic imaging devices that are optimized to fit children’s heads, according to a study published in the December issue of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. These tools increase the quality of the data and deter head motion, which research suggests can lead to spurious results.
The development of white matter tracts, the nerve bundles that join one brain region to another, is different in babies who go on to develop autism compared with those who do not, according to a study published 17 February in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
A longitudinal study of infant siblings of children with autism is the first to identify a particular brain pattern that is linked to later diagnosis of autism.
The results of two new studies support recommendations against the use of brain scans to diagnose autism.
The brains of boys with autism have a lower-than-normal rate of water diffusion across the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus — a bundle of neurons that connects all four major lobes of the brain, according to a new study.
Healthy parents of children with autism have an atypical brain response to sound frequency changes that mimics the response of individuals with the disorder.