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Spectrum: Autism Research News

Tag: diffusion tensor imaging

February 2023
MRI scan of a 2-year-old child.

Mapping genetic influences on the infant brain: A chat with Rebecca Knickmeyer

by  /  27 February 2023

Researchers know little about the ways genetic variants affect development in the infant brain. Knickmeyer, who launched the Organization for Imaging Genomics in Infancy, has spent the past five years trying to close the gap.

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August 2017
Structural anomalies (purple and blue) in the brains of babies with autism at 6 months (bottom row) become more widespread by 12 months (top row).

Weak ‘wiring’ in infant brains augurs severe autism features

by  /  21 August 2017

Babies who are later diagnosed with autism may show aberrant connections between some brain regions in their first year of life.

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May 2017

Brain scans of babies reveal how nerve tracts mature

by  /  13 May 2017

Bundles of nerve fibers that bridge brain areas develop rapidly during the first six months of life. Fibers that connect language regions mature more slowly than those linking motor regions.

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August 2016

Common brain signature marks autism, attention deficit

by  /  8 August 2016

Children with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder all show similar disruptions in brain structure.

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Motor troubles in Angelman may stem from nerve fiber anomaly

by  /  1 August 2016

Unusually thin nerve fibers in the brain may underlie the motor difficulties seen in children with Angelman syndrome, an autism-related condition.

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June 2016

Tightly folded autism brain tied to dense neural connections

by  /  2 June 2016

An intricately pleated brain may underlie the highly organized connections between nearby neurons in people with autism.

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September 2015

Extra-thick connections mark brains of toddlers with autism

by  /  18 September 2015

The brains of young children with autism show abnormally dense connections involving the frontal lobe. The excess wiring may disrupt the development of social and language circuits.

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June 2015

Thick bridge of nerves may signal autism in infancy

by  /  4 June 2015

The bundle of nerves that connects the brain’s two hemispheres is abnormally thick in infants who are later diagnosed with autism. The broader the bundle, called the corpus callosum, the more severe a child’s symptoms.

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May 2015

Brain structure abnormalities predict repetitive behaviors

by  /  19 May 2015

Among babies who go on to receive a diagnosis of autism at age 2, alterations in brain structures forecast the severity of repetitive behaviors. The preliminary results were presented Saturday at the 2015 International Meeting for Autism Research in Salt Lake City, Utah.  
 

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January 2015

Head movement in scanners skews brain measurements

by  /  9 January 2015

Even small movements of the head during magnetic resonance imaging can lead to spurious measurements of brain structures, according to a new study.

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