MRI Study Shows Brain Abnormalities in Patients with Genetic Autism

Study participants underwent cognitive and behavioral testing, and the MRI images were reviewed by neuroradiologists.

The results showed a number of striking differences in the brain structures of patients carrying the deleted and duplicated chromosome, compared with non-carriers, and family members without autism.

The researchers concluded that the link between the abnormalities in the MRI scans, and cognitive and behavioral impairments, could help clinicians in the future to predict which autism patients needed urgent medical interventions, and which do not.

Senior author of the study, Elliott Sherr, MD, PhD, said, “Often studies like this focus on high-functioning individuals, but this was an ‘all-comers’ group. We didn’t do mathematical algorithms but rather used the trained eyes of neuroradiologists to evaluate the scans of a full range of individuals. When you look at a broad range of people like this, from developmentally normal to more significantly challenged, you’re better able to find these correlations.”

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University of California, San Francisco