| ■ Study Offers New Insight Into Autism | 2007.08.27 |
| In people with autism, connections between brain cells may be deficient within single regions, and not just between regions as was previously believed, says a study in this month's issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry. The finding may lead to earlier diagnosis and development of more targeted drugs to treat autism, said lead author Tony Wilson, assistant professor of neurology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C. He conducted the study while at the University of Colorado. Using brain imaging technology, Wilson and his team analyzed brain activity in 10 children with autism and 10 children without the disorder as the children listened to a series of clicking sounds. The researchers noted a considerable difference between the two groups of children in the auditory area of the left hemisphere of the brain, which controls language and logic. Children with autism showed no response while those without autism showed an immediate response. "Our results made sense. Both anecdotal and behavioral evidence suggest children with autism have significantly disturbed brain circuits on the local level within an individual brain area," Wilson said. |