Autistic Brains - slower to react to sounds - new study

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Brains of autistic slower to react to sounds: study

Mon Dec 1, 2008 9:17pm IST

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CHICAGO (Reuters) - The brains of autistic children react to sounds a

fraction of a second slower than those of normal children, which may

help explain the communication problems associated with autism,

researchers said on Monday.

" What this does is it provides strong supporting evidence for the

emerging theory that autism is a problem of connectivity in the

brain, " said , vice chairman of research in the

Department of Radiology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

and his colleagues had 30 autistic children age 6 to 15

listen to a battery of sounds and syllables while monitoring the tiny

magnetic fields produced by the brain's electrical impulses.

The test employed a technique, called magnetoencephalography (MEG),

in which a helmet-like device is used to detect and locate brain

activity. Only around one hundred devices exist that can monitor the

tiny magnetic fields, said in a telephone interview.

In comparison to the tenth of a second response time in the brains of

normal children in the study, the autistic children's brains were

anywhere from 20 percent to 50 percent slower to react.

Since a single syllable in a multisyllable word might take less than

one-quarter of a second to say, said 1/20th of a second extra

delay in the response time of the brains of autistic children may

hamper their ability to comprehend.

" There could be abnormal routing or a lack of connectivity in the

brain, " he said in a telephone interview. " It may be like a highway

with traffic making it hard to get through. "

" We think this (delay) is a signature or a biomarker that could be

used to stratify autism patients, " since autism is a spectrum of

disorders that afflicts people to vastly different degrees, he said.

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Microscopic examination of the brain tissue of people with autism has

shown there may be fewer connections between their brain cells, said

, who presented his findings at a meeting of the Radiological

Society of North America.

Brain scans performed by the more frequently used magnetic resonance

imaging or computed tomography are not detailed enough to detect such

microscopic differences in brain cell connections. Such scans have

not found structural or size differences between autistic and normal

brains.

Autism, which is characterized by difficulty interacting with others

and sometimes repetitive behaviors, occurs in about one in 150 U.S.

children, a rate that has climbed since the 1980s.

Children are usually diagnosed with autism only after they reach age

2 years or older and said the hope is that MEG could diagnose

children as young as 1 year, so therapy could begin earlier and

perhaps be monitored to evaluate the results on the brain.

MEG can cost roughly $400 an hour to perform, but it is harmless and

could become less expensive if more devices were available. MEG is

used currently to help locate brain tumors and to diagnose epilepsy.

foresees MEG being employed to examine people with attention

deficit disorder and other mental problems.

He said it may also provide researchers with more clues to the causes

of autism and help solve the dilemma of what is hereditary and what

is environmental about the condition.

[Guest guest]

could explain why my kid takes a second or two to carry out a

request.

also, our kids might only be hearing the middle or last part of our

sentences, good reason to speak slowly and clearly and maybe repeat

things every so often.

Donna talked about this in her books, how sentences were all

garbled, she might hear the first and last part but not the middle.

>

> http://in.reuters.com/article/health/idINTRE4B00PI20081201?

> pageNumber=1 & virtualBrandChannel=0

>

>

> Brains of autistic slower to react to sounds: study

> Mon Dec 1, 2008 9:17pm IST

> Email | Print | Share| Single Page[-] Text [+]

>

>

>

> CHICAGO (Reuters) - The brains of autistic children react to sounds

a

> fraction of a second slower than those of normal children, which

may

> help explain the communication problems associated with autism,

> researchers said on Monday.

>

> " What this does is it provides strong supporting evidence for the

> emerging theory that autism is a problem of connectivity in the

> brain, " said , vice chairman of research in the

> Department of Radiology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

>

> and his colleagues had 30 autistic children age 6 to 15

> listen to a battery of sounds and syllables while monitoring the

tiny

> magnetic fields produced by the brain's electrical impulses.

>

> The test employed a technique, called magnetoencephalography (MEG),

> in which a helmet-like device is used to detect and locate brain

> activity. Only around one hundred devices exist that can monitor

the

> tiny magnetic fields, said in a telephone interview.

>

> In comparison to the tenth of a second response time in the brains

of

> normal children in the study, the autistic children's brains were

> anywhere from 20 percent to 50 percent slower to react.

>

> Since a single syllable in a multisyllable word might take less

than

> one-quarter of a second to say, said 1/20th of a second

extra

> delay in the response time of the brains of autistic children may

> hamper their ability to comprehend.

>

> " There could be abnormal routing or a lack of connectivity in the

> brain, " he said in a telephone interview. " It may be like a highway

> with traffic making it hard to get through. "

>

> " We think this (delay) is a signature or a biomarker that could be

> used to stratify autism patients, " since autism is a spectrum of

> disorders that afflicts people to vastly different degrees, he said.

>

> FEWER CONNECTIONS

>

> Microscopic examination of the brain tissue of people with autism

has

> shown there may be fewer connections between their brain cells,

said

> , who presented his findings at a meeting of the

Radiological

> Society of North America.

>

> Brain scans performed by the more frequently used magnetic

resonance

> imaging or computed tomography are not detailed enough to detect

such

> microscopic differences in brain cell connections. Such scans have

> not found structural or size differences between autistic and

normal

> brains.

>

> Autism, which is characterized by difficulty interacting with

others

> and sometimes repetitive behaviors, occurs in about one in 150 U.S.

> children, a rate that has climbed since the 1980s.

>

> Children are usually diagnosed with autism only after they reach

age

> 2 years or older and said the hope is that MEG could

diagnose

> children as young as 1 year, so therapy could begin earlier and

> perhaps be monitored to evaluate the results on the brain.

>

> MEG can cost roughly $400 an hour to perform, but it is harmless

and

> could become less expensive if more devices were available. MEG is

> used currently to help locate brain tumors and to diagnose epilepsy.

>

> foresees MEG being employed to examine people with

attention

> deficit disorder and other mental problems.

>

> He said it may also provide researchers with more clues to the

causes

> of autism and help solve the dilemma of what is hereditary and what

> is environmental about the condition.

>