We could be closer to having a biological test for autism. Researchers have developed a test, they say, was 94 percent accurate in detecting the disorder.
This all, of course, could provide comfort to thousands of anxious parents who wonder if there child will someday be diagnosed with autism and to many more who want to know why their child is living with the disorder.
The test uses MRI to measure the areas of the brain that deal with language, social and emotional functions. Researchers say it could someday replace the subjective ways currently used to identify autism. It could also someday be used to better manage and treat people with the disorder. But more research is still needed.
Researchers at McClean Hospital, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical school, and the University of Utah developed the test. The results will be published in the online edition of Autism Research today.
"This is not yet ready for prime time use in the clinic yet, but the findings are the most promising thus far," said lead author Nicholas Lange, ScD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of the Neurostatistics Laboratory at McLean.
"Indeed, we have new ways to discover more about the biological basis of autism and how to improve the lives of individuals with the disorder," said senior author Janet Lainhart, MD, Principal Investigator of the research at the University of Utah.
Researchers measured six aspects of the brain's circuitry and the test was able to correctly identify those who had previously been diagnosed with autism 94 percent of the time.
"The differences picked up on the study correlate with clinical symptoms that are part of the features of autism," Lainhart said. "There is less directional flow to and from brain regions where there should be more information exchange," said Lange.
Experts will continue their research and expect to release more findings in the next year or two. Researchers hope their work could someday help determine how autism develops. "We can gain a better understanding of how this disorder arises and changes over the lifetime of an individual, and derive more effective treatments," said Lainhart.
Read the full press release.
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