
Autism Spectrum Disorder: What You Need to Know
There is no cure, but diagnosing children early can help them get the support they need.
There is no cure, but diagnosing children early can help them get the support they need.
In two previous studies, University of North Carolina researchers and colleagues linked infant brain anatomy differences to autism diagnoses at age two. Now they show differences in functional connections between brain regions at 6 months to predict autism at age two.
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This first-of-its-kind study used MRIs to image the brains of infants, and then researchers used brain measurements and a computer algorithm to accurately predict autism before symptoms set in.
UNC researchers find that the bigger the differences in brain activity related to emotion regulation, the more severe the autism. Gabriel Dichter, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and psychology was the paper's senior author.
C.J. Malanga discovered that three specific drugs affect three different kinds of neurotransmitter receptors that all seem to play roles in Fragile X Syndrome.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina School at Chapel Hill have found that preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who receive high-quality early intervention benefit developmentally regardless of the treatment model used.
The First Year Inventory, a 10-minute questionnaire filled out by parents after a child’s first birthday, shows promise in identifying children who are later diagnosed with autism or other developmental problems.