Detection of Autism

Detection of Autism

In a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry by the researchers at the University of North Carolina found that the early signs of autism can be detected as early as six months of age which can lesson the impact of the disorder in children with suitable treatment. It was found that the tracts of white matter that connects different regions of the brain did not form as quickly in children who later developed autism, compared with kids who didn’t develop this disorder.

According the study researcher Jason Wolff, the way the wiring was changing was dampened in children with autism. It was a more blunted change over time, in how the brain was being wired. In contrast, in the brains of infants who did not later develop autism, white matter tracts were swiftly forming and their brains were organizing themselves in a pretty rapid fashion.

Thus, during a child’s first year, there is potential to intervene, to disrupt autism before it becomes entrenched so that there is scope for improvement in autistic children as first year of life is an important time in brain development, and it is also the time when the symptoms of autism begin to appear.