Correlation Found Between Brain Overgrowth and Autism

Researchers at the University of California at San Diego found a positive correlation between excessive brain growth during infancy and later diagnosis with autism. This could lead to earlier diagnoses and treatments for the disorder:

Using cross-sectional MRI scans, the U.C.S.D. researchers found overgrowth in autistic subjects as young as one and a half. At two and a half, the autistic subjects’ brains were 7 percent larger on average than the control group’s. Al­though why, exactly, excessive brain growth is related to autism remains a mystery, the new work helps to confirm that signs of the disorder appear early—knowledge that could lead to detection and treatments, such as behavior therapy, at a younger age.

Link | Photo (unrelated) from Flickr user Andrew Ciscel used under Creative Commons license