Scientists at Boston may have found the beginnings of a non-invasive diagnostic test that can detect abnormal brain waves that suggest increased risk for autism – a debilitating neurological disorder in babies. This test would be safe, inexpensive, and easy to perform and could make it possible for at-risk kids to get help right away rather than having to wait until months or years later, which is now the case with the behavioral tests believe experts.
They tested the new test on nine-month-olds at increased risk for autism with 80 percent accuracy, according to a written statement released by Children’s Hospital Boston. The team tested on nearly 80 infants. The test involves computer analysis of brain wave signals captured by the standard test known as the electroencephalogram (EEG).
Dr. William Bosl, a neuroinformatics researcher at the hospital said, “Electrical activity produced by the brain has a lot more information than we realized… Computer algorithms can pick out patterns in those squiggly lines that the eye can’t see.” EEG takes only minutes to perform and unlike MRI imaging, no sedation is required. Infants are simply fitted with an electrode-studded hairnet.
Sarah Paterson, director of the infant and toddler research program within the Center for Autism Research at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia said that these “predictive markers” will be valuable.
Autism affects an estimated 730 individuals under the age of 21, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study was published online in "BMC Medicine" on Feb. 22.
Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer at Autism Speaks said that at 9 months old, autism experts are already looking for physical symptoms that show a lack of what she called, “joint attention skills.” “Infants begin paying attention to where others are looking and using early gestures to share information with others,” Dawson said. “A lack of joint attention is one of the earliest signs of autism.”
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