SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - A new tool that could lead to early detection of autism just arrived at the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute. Doctors say the earlier it is detected, the better the chances treatment therapies will work.
The 20-thousand pound magnetic resonance imagining machine is in the newly constructed wing of the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute. It's a higher powered MRI that offers new hope to Utah parents who have children with autism.
Dr. Inkyoon Lyoo says it will allow doctors and researchers to see more detail in the brain. "We have a more accurate assessment of small brain structures not to mention the whole brain size and sub-regional changes."
That’s important, because doctors are learning through MRI research the brain is different in people with autism spectrum disorders.
Dr. Bill McMahon, Chair of Psychiatry at the U, says the brain is an intricate organ.” One brain region communicates with another brain region. Part of the development of a child’s brain is to take in stimuli from the environment, organize it, and in the process of doing that, the brain areas specialize.” He says a current MRI research show that doesn’t happen effectively in children with autism. "It looks like the brain has areas of over grown and poor connections."
If those differences are detected early doctors say there is more hope of correcting and compensating. Kara Lyon has two sons with autism. "We know that early intervention before two and three like at one year old makes such a difference for their long term prognosis and what they are able to accomplish in their lives."
Kara says her sons were both diagnosed in elementary school. She says ever day life is a challenge. "I love all my kids but I really wouldn't wish this on anybody."
She says she's excited by the new MRI technology being installed at the University of Utah, and she hopes it will mean a brighter future for other families, and will alleviate some of the guessing about treatments. "The guilt is hard because it's a genetic disorder and have did I choose the right therapies and the right way to help my sons did I get them in early enough to help."
At the U, they are quick to stress the MRI will not lead to an immediate cure, or all of the answers, but it's a good step down that long road.
