Research

Predicting Autism

Predicting autism had never been possible...

Predicting autism had never been possible...

Doctors never had a way to predict autism before symptoms and the condition developed. With new groundbreaking discoveries, Carolina researchers suggest early detection may in fact be possible.

Dr. Joseph Piven, the Thomas E. Castelloe Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, and UNC-Chapel researchers have pioneered the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain to identify which infants will be diagnosed with autism later in childhood. The study, conducted with researchers from around the U.S., reveals the potential that new therapies or drugs could positively effect development before the brain fully forms.

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This is story number 103 in the Carolina Stories 225th Anniversary Edition magazine.

The National Institutes of Health, Autism Speaks and the Simons Foundation funded this research.

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