Autism Puts Brain Growth in Overdrive

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience an extra burst in brain size before reaching 2 years old, new research shows.

Scientists already know that children with autism have larger brains compared to other children without the disorders. Now that researchers understand when brain enlargement occurs, they can focus on why it happens and even try to develop treatments for the disorders before they take hold. Although doctors diagnose autism at 2 years of age at the earliest, there are behavioral signs of ASD beginning at six months.

Analysis by Marianne English

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