Studies provide clues about possible types of autism linked to brain structure
Two groundbreaking studies at the UC Davis MIND Institute provide clues about possible types of autism linked to brain structure, including size and white matter growth.
The research is based on brain scans taken over many years as part of the Autism Phenome Project (APP) and Girls with Autism, Imaging of Neurodevelopment (GAIN) studies. It shows the value of longitudinal studies that follow the same children from diagnosis into adolescence. There is no other single site data set like ours anywhere, said Christine Wu Nordahl, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, MIND Institute faculty member and co-senior author on both papers. In one of the studies we have over 1,000 MRI scans from 400 kids, which is unheard of. It s been 15 years of work to get here.