New study explores autism risks
A nationwide study of babies who have brothers or sisters with autism will aim to identify factors in early development that can help to pinpoint infants likely to develop the condition.
Although the genetic link between siblings and autism is well known, there is no standard way of identifying signs in babies who may be at risk of developing autism. It is not usually diagnosed in children before the age of two.
The British Autism Study of Infant Siblings (BASIS) will be led by the Babylab at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck College, University of London.
Scientists at other institutions including Oxford and Cambridge universities, the Institute of Child Health and the Institute of Psychiatry will share their knowledge to try to find early differences in development between infants who have brothers or sisters with autism and those who do not. This could help identify the early signs of the disorder, allowing for quicker and more effective intervention aimed at improving the quality of life of children with autism.
Programme director Professor Mark Johnson said, 'This study will not only give us early warning signs; it will tell us a great deal about why autism develops in the way that it does.
'That kind of information will be invaluable in developing therapies to arrest and perhaps even reverse the distressing patterns of atypical behaviour which can blight the lives of families.'
The project is supported by the charity Autism Speaks and it is hoped that around 200 families will take part.
In the research, babies will take part in activities designed to be fun and stimulating, as well as comfortable, such as watching a cartoon or playing a game. Eye-tracking techniques are to be used to measure eye movement and brain activity using a specially designed 'hairnet'.
The researchers acknowledge that these scientific methods cannot be used for diagnosis, but they hope that their findings can be used in the future to design appropriate tools for diagnosis and intervention.
