Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine and Rutgers University have developed a new quantitative screening method for diagnosing and longitudinal tracking of autism in children after age 3. The studies are published as part of a special collection of papers in the open-access journal Frontiers in Neuroscience.
The technique involves tracking a person’s random movements in real time with a sophisticated computer program that produces 240 images a second and detects systematic signatures unique to each person. The traditional assessment for diagnosing autism involves primarily subjective opinions of a person’s social interaction, deficits in communication, and repetitive and restricted behaviors and interests.
ᔥIndiana University (2013, July 24). Novel technology seen as new, more accurate way to diagnose and treat autism. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 25, 2013,
Research to be presented at the Alzheimer’s Association’s international conference in Boston this week could help family doctors recognize and identify the symptoms of early-onset Alzheimer’s. TODAY’s Maria Shriver reports on how early detection has helped one woman struggling with the illness.
More than 50 million Americans suffer from mental illness or mental disorder. Because most of them are not severe and many go untreated, it may be helpful to understand the science behind what causes mental illness and how it manifests itself in everyday life
Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.
Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.
Little is known about the links between the time that young children go to bed and their cognitive development. This research paper, sought to examine whether bedtimes in early childhood are related to cognitive test scores in 7-year-olds.
The findings on sleep patterns and brain power come from a UK study of more than 11,000 seven-year-olds.The findings are published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
