Unique brain wave patterns that cause a slight delay--only a fraction of a second slower--in processing sounds offers insight into communication problems children with autism experience. Although the processing delay seems small, imagine if it took you just a bit longer to understand each and every syllable. By the end of a sentence, you probably would be pretty confused.
An imaging helmut resembling a salon hair dryer uses magnetoencephalography (MEG) to record minute magnetic fields in electrical brain activity and detect the slight delay in processing sounds. This scan test may eventually help diagnose children with autism at an earlier age--as young as one year old--and allow earlier intervention. Approximately one in every 150 American children is affected by autism. The findings of this new scan could be presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RNSA) in Chicago today.
"This delay in processing certain types and streams of sound may underpin the subsequent language processing and communication impairment seen in autistic children," says researcher Timothy Roberts, vice chair of research in the department of radiology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia according to an article in the Washingtonpost.com.
