With diseases and disorders one of
the most important factors to always consider is early detection. In the case
of autism, studies show that behavioral signs are usually assessed in toddlers
when they are about 2 years of age. This is when the first behavioral and
language symptoms of the disorder arise and are noticeable. There is a drive to
find a way to detect at risk infants earlier since early intervention can be
beneficial and prevent more difficult cases of autism.
In the American Journal of Psychiatry researchers say that they may have
found a tool to detect the highest at risk infants at a mere age of 6 months.
This test is known as fractional anisotropy, which measures the density of
white matter (the part of the brain rich in nerve fibers that makes up major
neuronal pathways). The scientists recruited 92 infants from the Infant Brain
Imaging Study Network; all of them were considered to be high risk because they
had at least one older sibling affected by autism. The scientists measured the
density of the babies’ nerve fibers in the brain and then tracked to see who
would end up being diagnosed with autism and who did not. Results showed that
those diagnosed with autism were more likely to show thicker, denser nerve
fiber endings at 6 months compared to those who did not develop the disorder.
By the time the affected infants reached age 2, they had thinner white matter
than those who did not develop autism. Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer
of Autism Speaks and professor of psychiatry explained that these results
suggest early on these neural networks are not developing normally. Among 15
nerve fiber tracks that were looked at, 12 showed abnormal development
patterns. This also shows, biologically, that whatever is driving autism is not
restricted to one area of the brain. This makes sense because behavioral
symptoms involve language and social interactions—which require different areas
of the brain. In the above image the red and orange represent the abnormal nerve fibers, and span in different areas of the brain.
Author of The Ravenous Brain and neuroscientist, Daniel Bohr, visits the
topic of autism in his book. He explains that this disorder is defined by
social impairments and the individual may have a lack of understanding of
thoughts and emotions of others, poor language skills, and repetitive
behaviors. Unfortunately many coin the autistic as mentally retarded when the
disorder is widely misunderstood throughout society. Bohr states an emerging
theory that those with autism are not necessarily defined by a lack of mental
skills, rather they experience a superfluous amount of information at once—they
are over aware. Connecting back to the study conducted with fractional
anisotropy this theory of over-awareness makes sense. If the individual is
experiencing vast amounts of information at once it would be probable that
nerve fiber tracks would in fact grow abnormally if multiple signals are
traveling through at once. Bohr assures the reader that autistics are not
mentally retarded, those in the sub branch of autism usually have a raised IQ.
Due to autistics’ having an overflow of conscious awareness they often find
comfort in crafting structure or highly ordered things such as mathematics. The
order within these hobbies may require use of only a couple of nerve fibers
restricted to one area of the brain reducing the stress on it and reducing the
overall discomfort autistics experience in loud or chaotic situations.
Although the study performed with
brain imaging proves to be helpful in early detection it does not necessarily
mean these thin abnormal fibers are the cause of autism. These images should be
used as tools or markers to detect high risk infants as early behavioral
therapy can improve cognitive development and make things easier for the
individual with autism.
Bor, Daniel. The
Ravenous Brain: How the New Science of Consciousness Explains Our Insatiable
Search for Meaning. New York: Basic, 2012. Print.
Park, A. (2012, February 17). Brain Imaging Could Detect Autism Risk in Infants as Young as 6 Months.
Retrieved October 16, 2014, http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/17/brain-imaging-could-detect-autism-risk-in-infants-as-young-as-6-months/
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