Brain anatomy spurs autism: Study
POSTED May 5, 2009 - 16:48 | POSTED BY Jyoti Pal
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on May 5, 2009 - 17:00
Study details:
83 children (50 autistic and 33 non-autistic) aged 2 were enrolled for the study. Using MRI brain scans, researchers monitored the child’s brain anatomy, primarily focusing on the size of amygdale. MRI scans were conducted at the age of 2 and again at age 4.
Comparing brain scans of autistic children with those of non-autistic children, researchers found that autistic brains were more likely to have an enlarged amygdale.
The size of amygdala was, on average, 13 percent larger in children with autism as opposed to their non-autistic counterparts, researchers found.
“When you see a face, you scan it, identify if it's friend or foe and make a decision about whether to move forward or avoid it. The amygdala plays a critical role in early-stage processing of facial expression and in alerting cortical areas to the emotional significance of an event,” researchers explained.
A normal-sized amygdala helps a person process faces and emotions better than an enlarged amygdale, suggesting that an overgrowth “disrupts the appropriate assignment of emotional significance to faces and social interaction,” Piven highlighted.
Linking autism to brain anatomy, study’s lead author Dr. Joseph Piven, stated, “We believe that children with autism have normal-sized brains at birth but at some point, in the latter part of the first year of life, it (the amygdale) begins to grow in kids with autism. And this study gives us insight inside the underlying brain mechanism so we can design more rational interventions.”
The findings feature in the latest issue of the medical journal Archives of General Psychiatry.
About Autism:
Autism, a brain development disorder, is characterized by impaired social interaction and communication. Afflicting a child before the age of 3, the symptoms usually range from mild to severe.
Those diagnosed with autism exhibit rigid routines and repetitive behaviors. Boys are 4 times more likely to be diagnosed with the disorder than girls. An estimated 1 in 150 children in United States are affected by the disorder.
