The Autism News | English


Autism first begins to show up as a significant difference in the brains of six-month-old babies and develops as they age, as compared to babies who are free of the disorder.

The study, conducted by scientists from Washington (St Louis) and North Carolina (Chapel Hill) Universities, involved infants at high risk for autism because they had an older sibling with the diagnosis.

The new research, which relied on brain scans acquired at night while infants were asleep, suggests that autism doesn’t appear abruptly, but instead develops over time during infancy, the American Journal of Psychiatry reports.

“We were surprised that there were so many differences so early in infancy,” says co-author Kelly N Botteron, who is leading the study at Washington, according to a Washington University statement.

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