Magnetic Field in Brain May Reveal Autism
Slight magnetic signals from brain activity may indicate difficulty processing language and sound in children with autism.
Researchers at The Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia are using a technology called magnetoencephalography (MEG) to detect magnetic fields that are created by brain activity. “The brain’s electrical signals generate tiny magnetic fields, which change with each sensation, and with communication among different locations in the brain,” Timothy Roberts, Ph.D., vice chair of radiology research and holder of the Oberkircher Family Endowed Chair in Pediatric Radiology at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, was quoted as saying.
Dr. Roberts and his colleagues have found a slightly different pattern in the magnetic activity from the brain in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) than normally developing children. “Children with autism respond a fraction of a second more slowly than healthy children to vowel sounds and tones,” Dr. Roberts was quoted as saying.
In the current study researchers evaluated 64 children ages six to 15, 30 of which had ASDs and the rest were age-matched normally developing children. The children were studied in a MEG machine, which has a helmet that surrounds a child’s head and presents a series of recorded sounds including beeps, vowel sounds and sentences. As a child’s brain responds to each sound, magnetic detectors in the machine analyze the brain’s changing magnetic field. When sounds were presented, the MEG machine recorded a delay of 20 milliseconds in the brain’s response in the children with an ASD, compared to the healthy control group of children.
Dr. Roberts and other researchers are working to develop “neural signatures” that can link recorded brain activity to particular behaviors in children with ASDs. By identifying and classifying these brain patterns they hope to be able to more accurately diagnose autism and potentially aid in developing more effective treatments.
SOURCE: Annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago, Ill., Nov. 30 – Dec. 1, 2008.
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