Functional neuroimaging of high-risk 6-month-old infants predicts a diagnosis of autism at 24 months of age.

ABSTRACT: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social deficits and repetitive behaviors that typically emerge by 24 months of age. To develop effective early interventions that can potentially ameliorate the defining deficits of ASD and improve long-term outcomes, early detection is essential. Using prospective neuroimaging of 59 6-month-old infants with a high familial risk for ASD, we show that functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging correctly identified which individual children would receive a research clinical best-estimate diagnosis of ASD at 24 months of age. Functional brain connections were defined in 6-month-old infants that correlated with 24-month scores on measures of social behavior, language, motor development, and repetitive beha

SUBMITTER: Emerson RW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5819345 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature