Diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is currently made when the affected individual is around 2 years of age. Recently, Shen et al. used MRI to scan for brain anomalies in 33 children at high ASD risk and 22 children at low risk, all under 2 years of age. Children who developed ASD (n = 10) had significantly elevated extra-axial fluid compared with non-ASD cases—a finding that was evident as early as 6–9 months of age.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER
Shen, M. D. et al. Early brain enlargement and elevated extra-axial fluid in infants who develop autism spectrum disorder. Brain doi:10.1093/brain/awt166
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New brain imaging measure for early diagnosis of autism. Nat Rev Neurol 9, 419 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2013.150
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2013.150