Early brain development in infants at high risk for autism spectrum disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with brain overgrowth, but it has been unclear how this relates to behavioural symptoms. In a longitudinal neuroimaging study of young children at high familial risk of autism, Heather Hazlett and colleagues now show that high-risk children who receive a diagnosis of ASD at 24 months of age had an increased cortical growth rate at 6–12 months. Early overgrowth in high-risk children is associated with social impairments at 24 months, and imaging data obtained at 6 and 12 months can predict an ASD diagnosis at 24 months in high-risk children. These findings indicate that differences in the developmental trajectory towards ASD emerge as early as the first year of life.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v542/n7641/full/nature21369.html

http://www.nature.com/news/brain-scans-spot-early-signs-of-autism-in-hig...

https://www.facebook.com/robertoburioniMD/posts/2248390335386137:0