Scientists discover way to make early diagnosis of autism

Scientists discover way to make early diagnosis of autism. February. 16, 2017 07:05. yskwon@donga.com.

Scientists have found a new way to make early diagnosis of autism in children ages two or under, which will help experts give children the education needed for socializing.

A team led by Prof. Annette Estes at the University of Washington Autism Center published a study in the February 16 issue of the journal Nature suggesting that an infant with a high probability of developing autism has the surface size of his or her brain grow faster compared with their peers. If this is used as a biomarker, autistic children can be given early diagnosis of the disorder by the probability of 80 percent.

The research team traced 106 infants from families whose members include autistic people through MRI scans and behavioral monitoring for 24 months to check whether they develop autism. They conducted the study based on the statistics that one in five infants from the families whose members include an autistic person develops autism.

Generally, the surface size of a two-year-old infant’s brain is in proportion to degree of his or her development at age one. However, an infant developing autism has shown the tendency of having the size of his or her brain surface grow rapidly at age two. The researchers developed an algorithm that allows for making diagnosis of whether an infant is developing autism or not by putting data including age (the number of months after birth), change of the brain’s surface size, and gender into a computer program. They applied the algorithm to two-year-old children to successfully make accurate prediction of whether they develop autism or not by the probability of 80 percent.

Generally, the youngest age at which doctors can diagnose autism through changes in a child’s language use and behaviors is four. The new diagnostic technique enables doctors to make diagnosis of autism by two years in advance.

“When diagnosis is made, it is a point in time that is already too late for autistic children to catch up with ordinary children,” Prof. Estes said. “If early diagnosis is made possible, experts can intervene, and educate those children to ensure they will not lag behind other children in terms of socializing and communication skills.