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Clinical & Research News
Published Online: 17 September 2010

Researchers Edge Closer to Finding Diagnostic Test for Autism

Joan Arehart-TreichelAuthors Info & Affiliations
Publication: Psychiatric News
Volume 45, Number 18
https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.45.18.psychnews_45_18_028

Abstract

A new biological aid for diagnosing autism appears to be fairly accurate in adults. Scientists will now test its accuracy in children.
British scientists may have found a biological diagnostic test for autism.
It consists of reconstructing an MRI scan of a person's brain into a 3-D image so that a computer could examine the architecture of the brain and determine whether it is afflicted with autism spectrum disorder.
The research suggesting that such a scenario might be feasible was conducted by Declan Murphy, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and brain maturation at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, and colleagues. Results were published online August 11 in the Journal of Neuroscience.
A 3-D image of a brain reconstructed from a computer-generated MRI scan, such as this one, may help diagnose autism.
Credit: Declan Murphy, M.D.
There was already evidence to suggest that some aspects of cerebral morphology—say, cortical thickness in several temporal lobe areas and sulcal depth in the parietal lobes—were different in people with autism spectrum disorder than in people without it. The technique of Murphy and his colleagues was designed to detect such brain architectural differences.
The scientists then assessed the ability of their technique to detect autism spectrum disorder by testing it on 20 adults with known autism spectrum disorder and 19 neurodevelopmentally normal adults.
They found that the results of the technique were positive in 18 of the 20 subjects with autism spectrum disorder, giving a sensitivity of 90 percent, and negative in 15 of the 19 neurodevelopmentally normal subjects, giving a specificity of 80 percent. In other words, the technique had a 10 percent chance of producing false negatives and a 20 percent chance of producing false positives.
The scientists now plan to see whether the technique can deliver comparable sensitivity and specificity in children with autism spectrum disorder. If so, it might eventually prove valuable in the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.
But “let's be clear,” Murphy told Psychiatric News. “We are not saying that this should be used as a stand-alone device for diagnosing autism spectrum disorder. Rather, we would prefer to think of it as a diagnostic aid.”
Currently, autism spectrum disorder is diagnosed solely on the basis of behavioral criteria. The behavioral diagnostic process is, however, often extremely time-consuming.
The study was funded by the UK Medical Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research, and the Wellcome Trust.
“Describing the Brain in Autism in Five Dimensions—Magnetic Resonance Imaging–Assisted Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder Using a Multiparameter Classification Approach” is posted at <www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/abstract/30/32/10612>.

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Psychiatric News
Volume 45 • Number 18 • September 17, 2010
Pages: 18

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Published online: 17 September 2010
Published in print: September 17, 2010

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