Neuroimaging technique may help predict autism among high-risk infants
Autism affects roughly 1 out of every 68 children in the United States. Siblings of children diagnosed with autism are at higher risk of developing the disorder. Although early diagnosis and intervention can help improve outcomes for children with autism, there currently is no method to diagnose the disease before children show symptoms . "Previous findings suggest that brain-related changes occur in autism before behavioral symptoms emerge," said Diana Bianchi, M.D., NICHD Director. "If future studies confirm these results, detecting brain differences may enable physicians to diagnose and treat autism earlier than they do today." In the current study, a research team led by NIH-funded investigators at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis focused on the brain's functional connectivity -- how regions of the brain work together during different tasks and during rest. Using fcMRI , the rese...