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TUESDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- By analyzing patterns in the brain's electrical activity, researchers say they've been healthy to assess autism venture in children as teen as 6 months of age.

Researchers crooked up 79 babies older 6 to 24 months to an EEG, or electroencephalogram, which records electrical state in the brain. Forty-six of the infants had an older relation with an autism spectrum disorder, while the another 33 had no kinsfolk history of autism.

Children who hit a relation with autism are much more likely to develop autism themselves, explained advance think communicator William Bosl, a neuroinformatics researcher at Children's Hospital Boston. Prior research has shown that most 20 proportionality of siblings of children with autism module also develop autism and another 40 to 50 proportionality module hit some characteristics of the disorder, much as continual behaviors or problems with social interaction, language or communication, but not the full-blown disorder.

While the children watched grouping blowing bubbles, researchers rhythmic the babies' mentality waves and analyzed the results using machine algorithms. The algorithms crapper notice impalpable patterns in the lines created by EEGs that the human receptor strength miss, Bosl explained.

When the babies were nine months old, researchers could prognosticate who was in the high-risk autism assemble -- that is, they had a relation with autism -- with nearly 80 proportionality accuracy.

"In this study, we hit taken the prototypal travel in display that there is definitive aggregation in the electrical signals rhythmic by EEG to distinguish connatural controls from infants at broad venture for nonindustrial autism," Bosl said.

When busted out by gender, researchers found another differences. For example, at nine months they were healthy to prognosticate which boys were in the high-risk assemble with near 100 proportionality accuracy. But quality for girls at that geezerhood was exclusive 60 percent, not statistically significant.

At sextet months of age, however, they could prognosticate the broad venture girls with most 80 proportionality accuracy, though they couldn't do the same for boys that young.

"It seems perhaps they are on a slightly assorted developmental trajectory," Bosl said.

The think is published online Feb. 22 in BMC Medicine.

EEGs measure mentality electrical state finished electrodes attached to the scalp. The profession has been around for awhile -- matured in the late 1920s, it has been utilised for more than 60 eld to notice seizures in epileptics.

But it's the newer, staged info profession and sophisticated machine algorithms that enabled the researchers to look more deeply into what the EEGs show, Bosl said.

"Artificial info gives us the ability to encounter patterns we strength not encounter with our own eyes," Bosl said. "One of the difficulties with a disorder same autism is that it's rattling heterogenous. A rattling high-functioning mortal with autism strength not be so assorted from a so-called 'normal' mortal who is quirky. Defining the differences haw be somewhat subtle."

EEGs are also relatively inexpensive, painless and safe, Bosl said. And unlike MRIs, they order no sedation, so testing could be put to widespread use, he said.

"My wish is we would hit a simple artefact of measuring mentality state in every female and see the patterns emerging that strength road autism characteristics," Bosl said. "That would be tremendously useful. We undergo early intervention is extremely important. Right now, for a aggregation of children, that effectuation 3 eld old. What we don't undergo still is if you crapper intervene at 9 or 12 months and how trenchant that could be."

Dr. Joshua Ewen, a neurologist and director of the clinical neurophysiology work at the President Krieger Institute in Baltimore, said the think is substantially finished and looks promising, but needs to be replicated.

Also, the think predicted who was at broad venture of autism, but it's unknown if those babies actually went on to develop autism, he noted.

"If it crapper yet be shown that this framework crapper reliably identify which children module indeed develop autism, then we module hit a valuable agency for primeval detection," Ewen said. "Early detection continues to be of critical importance, as it opens the door to primeval intervention, which has been shown to improve outcomes for children with autism."

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more on autism.

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