Brain Size Signals Certain Type of Autism
Today, research from the largest study of brain development on preschoolers with autism was released, and it portrayed conclusive evidence that those with autism usually had a larger brain size than that of their healthy counterparts. The evidence was unfortunately only applicable to boys since girls did not seem to have any abnormal brain growth at all. Due to this reason, boys are more frequently diagnosed with autism compared to girls at a ratio of 4 to 1.
The correlation between brain enlargement and autism has been proven before, but the research was not quite specific and did not specify the type of autism which associated with an enlarged brain. According to David G. Amaral, the MIND Institute research director at University of California-Davis, "there are "multiple biological subtypes of autism, with different neurobiological underpinnings".
The research had over 180 children. 66 of those were healthy beings of the same age that were used as a control group while the other 114 had autism spectrum disorder. Of the 114, 54% were diagnosed with the regressive form of autism while the rest had the non-regressive form. To differentiate between the regressive form of autism and the non-regressive form, scientists observed and logged the behavioral aspects of the children based on their language, memory, and social skills. With the utilization of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), researchers found that those with the regressive form of autism had a 6% greater brain volume that their healthy counterparts. Of those with regressive autism, 22% had enlarged brains while only 5% of those without regressive autism had enlarged brains. Throughout the research, none of the girls displayed any form of abnormal brain growth.
Another finding from this experiment was that the brain growth diverged from the normal when the children were four to six months old. This data suggest that the onset of autism is when the child is a newborn which is quite contrary to the conventional belief that the onset is when the regression occurs.
http://news.nurse.com/article/20111129/NATIONAL02/111280038/-1/frontpage
The correlation between brain enlargement and autism has been proven before, but the research was not quite specific and did not specify the type of autism which associated with an enlarged brain. According to David G. Amaral, the MIND Institute research director at University of California-Davis, "there are "multiple biological subtypes of autism, with different neurobiological underpinnings".
The research had over 180 children. 66 of those were healthy beings of the same age that were used as a control group while the other 114 had autism spectrum disorder. Of the 114, 54% were diagnosed with the regressive form of autism while the rest had the non-regressive form. To differentiate between the regressive form of autism and the non-regressive form, scientists observed and logged the behavioral aspects of the children based on their language, memory, and social skills. With the utilization of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), researchers found that those with the regressive form of autism had a 6% greater brain volume that their healthy counterparts. Of those with regressive autism, 22% had enlarged brains while only 5% of those without regressive autism had enlarged brains. Throughout the research, none of the girls displayed any form of abnormal brain growth.
Another finding from this experiment was that the brain growth diverged from the normal when the children were four to six months old. This data suggest that the onset of autism is when the child is a newborn which is quite contrary to the conventional belief that the onset is when the regression occurs.
http://news.nurse.com/article/20111129/NATIONAL02/111280038/-1/frontpage
posted by Sandeep.Kancharla at 9:43 PM
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