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Subject: VARIATION IN BRAIN DEVELOPMENT SEEN IN INFANTS WITH AUTISM
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
NIH News Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development (NICHD)<http://www.nichd.nih.gov/>
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, February 21, 2012
CONTACT: Robert Bock or Marianne Glass Miller, 301-496-5133, <e-mail:
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VARIATION IN BRAIN DEVELOPMENT SEEN IN INFANTS WITH AUTISM NIH research
network identifies differences in brain structure as early as 6 months
Patterns of brain development in the first two years of life are distinct in
children who are later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders
<http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/asd.cfm> (ASDs), according to
researchers in a network funded by the National Institutes of Health. The
study results show differences in brain structure at 6 months of age, the
earliest such structural changes have been recorded in ASDs.
"The difference in the trajectory of brain development between the two
groups was dramatic between 6 and 24 months," said senior author Joseph
Piven, M.D., of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC). "This
suggests that the period from 6 to 24 months -- when behavioral studies
suggest the symptoms of autism are first appearing -- is a period of
dramatic brain changes in ASDs."
ASDs involve communication and social difficulties as well as repetitive
behavior and restricted interests. Many early behavioral signs of ASDs are
not apparent until the first year of age. Typically, ASDs are diagnosed at
age 3 or older. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, ASDs affect 1 of 110 children
<http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/index.html> in the United States.
The study was published online in the American Journal of Psychiatry. First
author Jason J. Wolff, Ph.D., also of UNC, conducted the research with Dr.
Piven and members of the Infant Brain Imaging Study
<http://www.ibisnetwork.org/>, which is funded through the Eunice Kennedy
Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Autism Centers of Excellence program. Additional funding was provided by the
National Institute of Mental Health.
The researchers recorded brain images of 92 infants, all of whom had an
older brother or sister with ASDs. Children who have an older sibling with
ASDs have an increased risk of developing ASDs. The researchers used a
technique known as diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging to track the
children's brain development at 6 months, 1 year and 2 years.
As the brain develops, networks of neural circuits known as white matter
fiber tracts form connections between the various brain areas. These white
matter fiber tracts serve as conduits that convey information throughout the
brain. For their study, the researchers identified specific connections
throughout the brain, and measured the strength of these connections. When
the children were 6 months of age, the researchers found that white matter
connections for children who went on to develop ASDs were initially stronger
than for those who did not develop autism.
The researchers recorded complete sets of images from each child. These
sets of images were recorded at three intervals: when the children were 6
months, 12 months, and 24 months of age. In each set of images, 15 such
white matter fiber tracts were recorded.
At 6 months, the intensity of these white matter connections was greatest in
the group that later developed ASDs. However, by 24 months, the white
matter connections in the children with ASDs had apparently failed to keep
pace with those of the children who did not develop ASDs. At 12 months and
24 months, the children who did not have ASDs had stronger, more intense
connections in 12 of the 15 white matter fiber tracts than did their
counterparts who developed ASDs. The researchers interpreted these findings
to indicate that coherent, organized information pathways developed faster
in the children who did not have ASDs.
About the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development (NICHD): The NICHD sponsors research on development,
before and after birth; maternal, child, and family health; reproductive
biology and population issues; and medical rehabilitation. For more
information, visit the Institute's website at < http://www.nichd.nih.gov/>.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical
research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal
agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical
research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both
common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs,
visit <www.nih.gov>.
NIH...Turning Discovery into Health
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