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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 young as 6 months of age.

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

Children who hit a relation with autism are much more probable to amend autism themselves, explained lead think author William Bosl, a neuroinformatics scientist at Children's Hospital Boston. Prior research has shown that about 20 proportionality of siblings of children with autism module also amend autism and added 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 measured 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 manlike eye strength miss, Bosl explained.

When the babies were figure 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 condemned the first step in showing that there is definitive aggregation in the electrical signals measured by EEG to distinguish connatural controls from infants at broad venture for developing autism," Bosl said.

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

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

"It seems perhaps they are on a slightly different 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 used for more than 60 years to notice seizures in epileptics.

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

"Artificial info gives us the knowledge 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 different from a so-called 'normal' mortal who is quirky. Defining the differences haw be somewhat subtle."

EEGs are also relatively inexpensive, harmless and safe, Bosl said. And unlike MRIs, they require no sedation, so investigating could be place to widespread use, he said.

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

Dr. book Ewen, a neurologist and director of the clinical neurophysiology work at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, said the think is well done 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 amend autism, he noted.

"If it crapper eventually be shown that this technique crapper reliably identify which children module indeed amend autism, then we module hit a valuable agency for early detection," Ewen said. "Early spotting continues to be of grave importance, as it opens the door to early intervention, which has been shown to meliorate 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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