Autism Diagnosis Breakthough

[NEPACIL]

"A 15-minute brain scan could in future be used to test for autism,
helping doctors diagnose the complex condition more cheaply and
accurately.

British scientists said on Tuesday their rapid test had proved more
than 90 percent accurate in adults and there was no reason why it
should not work equally well in children.

It could be a boon for patients and their doctors by reducing reliance
on time-consuming and emotionally trying assessments based on
interviews and behavioral observation.

The new scanning method -- which picks up on structural changes in the
brain's grey matter -- could be ready for general use in a couple of
years. The next goal is to test it in children.

"What we are working on now is to see if we find the same results in
younger people," research leader Declan Murphy, professor of
psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, said
in an interview."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6795I420100810