Functional Connectivity Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fcMRI) may predict which high-risk six month old infants will develop autism spectrum disorder by age two years, according to a study published in the June 7 issue of “Science Translational Medicine” http://stm.sciencemag.org. The study was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) www.nichd.nih.gov and the National Institute of Mental health (NIMH) https://www.nimh.nih.gov.
Autism affects roughly one out of every 68 children in the U.S. Siblings of children diagnosed with autism are at higher risk of developing the disorder. Although early diagnosis and intervention can help improve outcomes for children with autism, there currently is no method to diagnose the disease before children show symptoms.
In the current study, a research team led by NIH funded investigators at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill www.unc.edu and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis http://medicine.wustl.edu focused on the brain’s functional connectivity and how regions of the brain work together during different tasks and during rest.
Using fcMRI, the researchers scanned 59 high-risk six month old infants while they slept naturally. The children were deemed high-risk because they have older siblings with autism. At age two, eleven of the 59 infants in this group were diagnosed with autism.
When using technology to predict future autism in the infants, 82 percent of the infants were predicted to have autism and the technology was able to analyze and correctly identify all of the infants who did not develop autism.
The researchers used a computer-based technology called machine learning which trains itself to look for differences that can separate the neuroimaging results into autism or non-autism groups and then predicts future diagnoses.
“Although the findings are early stage, the study suggest that in the future, neuroimaging may be used to diagnose autism or help healthcare providers evaluate a child’s risk of developing the disorder,” said Joshua Gordon, MD, PhD NIMH Director.