Brain's Magnetic Fields Reveal Language Delays In Autism

Autistic children are known to respond several times slower than healthy children without autism; this may be due in part to faint magnetic signals from brain activity in autistic children.

In Dr. Timothy Roberts', the pediatric radiologist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, research using magnetoencephalography (MEG), he found that the brain has small magnetic fields which change with sensation and communication in the different parts of the brain. His research is geared toward developing "neural signatures" which will correlate between observed brain activity and behavior, usually difficulty in communication and social interaction, in autistic children.

The MEG machine consists of a helmet which is to be worn by the child. During the test, the child's brain activity is monitored as he responds to sounds, vowel sounds, and sentences. When comparing autistic children to the control cases (healthy, non-autistic children), the autistic children showed a twenty millisecond or more delay in response.

Research is still being developed. Dr. Roberts hopes that in the future, further findings will be able to help detect autistic spectrum disorders early on and better diagnose and treat the different subtypes of ASD.


URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081201081710.htm

Acacia Ho
VTPP 434 - 501