OT - Brain Waves Are Window into Autism Language Woes

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Brain Waves Are Window into Autism Language Woes

Posted By: Carla 22 hrs ago

By LINDSEY TANNER

AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO (AP) -- Unique brain wave patterns, spotted for the first

time in autistic children, may help explain why they have so much

trouble communicating.

Using an imaging helmet that resembles a big salon hair dryer,

researchers discovered what they believe are " signatures of autism "

that show a delay in processing individual sounds.

That delay is only a fraction of a second, but when it's for every

sound, the lag time can cascade into a major obstacle in speaking and

understanding people, the researchers said.

Imagine if it took a tiny bit longer than normal to understand each

syllable. By the end of a whole sentence, you'd be pretty confused.

The study authors believe that's what happens with autistic children,

based on the brain wave patterns detected in school-age children in

their study.

The preliminary results need to be confirmed in younger children, but

the researchers hope this technique could be used to help diagnose

autism in children as young as age 1. That's at least a year earlier

than usual, and it could mean behavior treatment much sooner.

Papanicolaou, director of the clinical neurosciences center at

University of Texas's Houston campus, said the study makes a major

contribution to autism research.

" It gives us a window through which we get a picture of some of the

neurological conditions responsible for the peculiar behaviors in

autism, " said Papanicolaou, who was not involved in the research.

Dr. McPartland, a Yale University autism researcher who also

wasn't involved in the study, called the results " preliminary, with

promise. " Whether the patterns found in the study exist in all

autistic children is uncertain, but they're worthy of more study, he

said.

Study results were prepared for release Monday at the Radiological

Society of North America meeting in Chicago.

Finding biomarkers -- like the brain waves -- that could enable

earlier diagnosis and treatment is the " holy grail " for autism

scientists, McPartland said. Now, doctors typically diagnose autism

through parents' reports and by observing behaviors that often don't

emerge until at least age 2, he said.

The brain wave study used noninvasive technology called

magnetoencephalography, MEG for short. It measures magnetic fields

generated by electrical currents in brain nerve cells, and records

brain activity in real time.

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia had 64 autistic

children ages 6 to 15 listen through headphones to a series of rapid

beeps while under the helmet-like device, which recorded the brain's

response to the sounds. Those brain waves, shown as highlighted areas

on an imaging screen, were compared with responses in a group of non-

autistic children.

In autistic children, response to each sound was delayed by one-

fiftieth of a second.

" We tend to speak at four syllables per second, " said

, the study's lead author and the hospital's vice chairman of

research. If an autistic brain " is slow in processing a change in a

syllable ... it could easily get to the point of being overloaded. "

Experts say one in 150 U.S. children have autism, a disorder

involving poor verbal communication, repetitive behaviors such as

head-banging, and avoidance of physical or eye contact.

There is no cure but behavior treatment and sometimes medication can

lessen symptoms.

Among those in the study was Leiby, a 9-year-old Mount Laurel,

N.J., boy with mild autism and sometimes hard-to-understand speech.

He said he felt like an astronaut wearing that big helmet, and called

the whole experience " cool. "

was diagnosed at age 2. Since then he's had extensive

treatment including speech therapy. He's in a regular third-grade

class, loves cross-country running and hopes to become an engineer.

Before participating in the study last year, " we didn't have an

answer " about his language difficulties, said 's mother,

Kim. " It helped shed a lot of light. "

, the study author, said the findings fit with a leading

theory that suggests autism is " a disorder of connectivity in the

brain. "

MEG technology also has been used to map brain tumors and to evaluate

epilepsy. McPartland said a few previous studies have used MEG and

related technology to study other aspects of autism, but with

inconsistent results.

Associated Press