New Delhi: Abnormally high levels of gray matter in the fetus during the first trimester of pregnancy may indicate severe autism, which includes lifelong difficulties in social and cognitive skills and possibly not being able to speak, according to a new study. . ,
The researchers said the biological basis that differentiates mild and severe (or profound) autism in children develops in the first weeks and months during their fetal stage, shortly after conception.
According to an international team of researchers from the University of California (UC) San Diego, US, the most significant symptoms of deep and mild autism are experienced in the social emotional and communication domains, but to varying degrees of severity.
For the study, they used stem cells obtained from blood samples from ten children with autism and six children without autism to create "mini brains" — laboratory models of the brain's cerebral cortex that resembled those at the time the children were developing. were in their embryonic stage. ,
The cerebral cortex is the outer layer of the surface of the brain.Stem cells are specialized human cells that can develop into different types, including brain cells.
Researchers found that tiny brains grown from stem cells of children with autism, called brain cortical organoids (BCOs), grew about 40 percent larger than models made from stem cells of children without autism.
"The bigger the brain, the better it is not necessarily better," said Alison Muotri of UC San Diego and co-author of the study published in the journal Molecular Autism.
"We found that the larger the fetal BCO size, the more severe the social symptoms of autism in the child," said lead researcher Eric Courchesne, co-director of UC San Diego's Autism Center of Excellence and lead author of the study.
"Children who had severe autism, which is the most severe type of autism, had the greatest increase in BCO during fetal development," Courchesne said.,
The researchers also found that there was more growth in the 'mini brain', more social areas in the brain of a child with severe autism, and less attention to the child's social environment – the most important symptom of severe autism.
Additionally, laboratory models of children with severe autism grew "much faster" and "much larger," the authors said.
"There is an urgent need to understand the differences in the embryological origins of these two subtypes of autism (deep and mild)," Courchesne said.
"This understanding can only come from studies like ours that uncover the underlying neurobiological causes of their social challenges and when they begin," Courchesne said."
The researchers said the biological basis that differentiates mild and severe (or profound) autism in children develops in the first weeks and months during their fetal stage, shortly after conception.
According to an international team of researchers from the University of California (UC) San Diego, US, the most significant symptoms of deep and mild autism are experienced in the social emotional and communication domains, but to varying degrees of severity.
For the study, they used stem cells obtained from blood samples from ten children with autism and six children without autism to create "mini brains" — laboratory models of the brain's cerebral cortex that resembled those at the time the children were developing. were in their embryonic stage. ,
The cerebral cortex is the outer layer of the surface of the brain.Stem cells are specialized human cells that can develop into different types, including brain cells.
Researchers found that tiny brains grown from stem cells of children with autism, called brain cortical organoids (BCOs), grew about 40 percent larger than models made from stem cells of children without autism.
"The bigger the brain, the better it is not necessarily better," said Alison Muotri of UC San Diego and co-author of the study published in the journal Molecular Autism.
"We found that the larger the fetal BCO size, the more severe the social symptoms of autism in the child," said lead researcher Eric Courchesne, co-director of UC San Diego's Autism Center of Excellence and lead author of the study.
"Children who had severe autism, which is the most severe type of autism, had the greatest increase in BCO during fetal development," Courchesne said.,
The researchers also found that there was more growth in the 'mini brain', more social areas in the brain of a child with severe autism, and less attention to the child's social environment – the most important symptom of severe autism.
Additionally, laboratory models of children with severe autism grew "much faster" and "much larger," the authors said.
"There is an urgent need to understand the differences in the embryological origins of these two subtypes of autism (deep and mild)," Courchesne said.
"This understanding can only come from studies like ours that uncover the underlying neurobiological causes of their social challenges and when they begin," Courchesne said."
