New brain-imaging study

A new brain-imaging study by Yale School of Medicine researchers have identified a distinct pattern of brain activity that may characterize the genetic vulnerability to developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and could eventually lead to earlier and more accurate autism diagnosis.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers scanned the brains of children with autism and their unaffected siblings, as well as those of typically developing children as the three groups watched animations of biological movement.

The study included 62 children aged 4 to 17.

The team identified three distinct 'neural signatures': trait markers — brain regions with reduced activity in children with ASD and their unaffected siblings; state markers — brain areas with reduced activity found only in children with autism; and compensatory activity — enhanced activity seen only in unaffected siblings. The enhanced brain activity may reflect a developmental process by which these children overcome a genetic predisposition to develop ASD.

Martha Kaiser, a postdoctoral associate in the Yale Child Study Centre notes, "This study may contribute to a better understanding of the brain basis of ASD, and the genetic and molecular origin of the disorder."

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.