MRI Sees Brain Changes in Infants with ASD

Autism may be detectable in infants as young as 6 months old, according to a study released Friday in the American Journal of Psychiatry, suggesting the condition has a stronger genetic and biological root.
The study, which tracked MRI images of 92 infants from 6 to 24 months, found that infants who went on to develop autism may have had brain abnormalities visible on MRI at 6 months of age, before the development of clinical symptoms.

New MRI Could Lead to Early Diagnosis of Autism

SALT LAKE CITY -- A new tool that could lead to early detection of autism just arrived at the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute. Doctors say the earlier it is detected, the better the chances treatment therapies will work.

The 20-thousand pound magnetic resonance imagining machine is in the newly constructed wing of the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute. It's a higher powered MRI that offers new hope to Utah parents who have children with autism.

Research Dedicated to MRI Brain Scanner

NISKAYUNA, N.Y. – GE Global Research and Mayo Clinic have received a five-year, $5.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to jointly research a dedicated MRI brain scanner to image for a range of neurological and psychiatric disorders such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain disorder, depression and autism.
The aim of the reasearch is to help expand the availability of MRI scanners beyond the hospital to smaller clinic settings.
The grant, from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) – both components of NIH – will help a Mayo Clinic team led by Matt A. Bernstein, a medical physicist, and John Huston III, MD, a neuroradiologist.

Study: MRI of Brain May Detect Autism

Brain scans may be able to diagnose autism early.
In a small study doctors at Columbia University were able to identify kids with autism because a section of their brain was less active.
Right now the disorder is not diagnosed until kids display symptoms like repetitive behaviors and impaired language.