Brain Scan Can Detect Early Signs of Autism in Infants

A new study shows significant differences in brain development in high-risk infants who develop autism starting as early as age 6 months. The findings published in the American Journal of Psychiatry reveal that this abnormal brain development may be detected before the appearance of autism symptoms in an infant's first year of life. Autism is typically diagnosed around the age of 2 or 3.

The study offers new clues for early diagnosis, which is key, as research suggests that the symptoms of autism -- problems with communication, social interaction and behavior -- can improve with early intervention. "For the first time, we have an encouraging finding that enables the possibility of developing autism risk biomarkers prior to the appearance of symptoms, and in advance of our current ability to diagnose autism," says co-investigator Dr. Alan Evans at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital -- the Neuro, McGill University, which is the Data Coordinating Centre for the study.

"Infancy is a time when the brain is being organized and connections are developing rapidly," says Dr. Evans. "Our international research team was able to detect differences in the wiring by six months of age in those children who went on to develop autism. The difference between high-risk infants that developed autism and those that did not was specifically in white matter tract development -- fibre pathways that connect brain regions." The study followed 92 infants from 6 months to age 2. All were considered at high-risk for autism, as they had older siblings with the developmental disorder. Each infant had a special type of MRI scan, known as diffusion tensor imaging, at 6 months and a behavioral assessment at 24 months. The majority also had additional scans at either or both 12 and 24 months.

At 24 months, 30% of infants in the study were diagnosed with autism. White matter tract development for 12 of the 15 tracts examined differed significantly between the infants that developed autism and those who did not. Researchers evaluated fractional anisotropy (FA), a measure of white matter organization based on the movement of water through tissue. Differences in FA values were greatest at 6 and 24 months. Early in the study, infants who developed autism showed elevated FA values along these tracts, which decreased over time, so that by 24 months autistic infants had lower FA values than infants without autism.

The study characterizes the dynamic age-related brain and behavior changes underlying autism -- vital for developing tools to aid autistic children and their families. This is the latest finding from the on-going Infant Brain Imaging Study (IBIS), which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and brings together the expertise of a network of researchers from institutes across North America. The IBIS study is headquartered at the University of North Carolina, and The Neuro is the Data Coordinating Centre where all IBIS data is centralized.

Read more here

Autism May Be Linked to Abnormal Immune System Characteristics and Novel Protein Fragment

Immune system abnormalities that mimic those seen with autism spectrum disorders have been linked to the amyloid precursor protein (APP), reports a research team from the University of South Florida's Department of Psychiatry and the Silver Child Development Center.

The study, conducted with mouse models of autism, suggests that elevated levels of an APP fragment circulating in the blood could explain the aberrations in immune cell populations and function -- both observed in some autism patients. The findings were recently published online in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

The USF researchers concluded that the protein fragment might be both a biomarker for autism and a new research target for understanding the physiology of the disorder.

"Autism affects one in 110 children in the United States today," said research team leader Jun Tan, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry and the Robert A. Silver Chair, Rashid Laboratory for Developmental Neurobiology at USF's Silver Child Development Center. "While there are reports of abnormal T-cell numbers and function in some persons affected with autism, no specific cause has been identified. The disorder is diagnosed by behavioral observation and to date no associated biomarkers have been identified."

"Not only are there no associated biomarkers, but the prognosis for autism is poor and the costs associated with care are climbing," said Francisco Fernandez, MD, department chair and head of the Silver Center. "The work of Dr. Tan and his team is a start that may lead to earlier diagnosis and more effective treatments."

Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120103150755

Teaching Children With Autism to Imitate Others May Improve Social Skills

Teaching young children with autism to imitate others may improve a broader range of social skills, according to a new study by a Michigan State University scholar.

The findings come at a pivotal time in autism research. In the past several years, researchers have begun to detect behaviors and symptoms of autism that could make earlier diagnosis and even intervention like this possible, said Brooke Ingersoll, MSU assistant professor of psychology.

"It's pretty exciting," Ingersoll said. "I think we, as a field, are getting a much better idea of what autism looks like in infants and toddlers than we did even five years ago."

In the current study, Ingersoll found that toddlers and preschoolers with autism who were taught imitation skills made more attempts to draw the examiner's attention to an object through gestures and eye contact, a key area of deficit in autism.

Imitation is an important development skill that allows infants and young children to interact and learn from others. However, children with autism often show a lack of ability to imitate.

The study, which appears in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, analyzed children with autism who were 27 months to 47 months old.

The findings come on the heels of a paper Ingersoll published in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science that highlighted recent findings in autism research by U.S. scientists.

Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111212124518

When screen time affects kids' zzz time

When screen time affects kids' zzz time

If your child has trouble falling asleep at night, a remedy may be right under your nose: the power switch on your iPad, smartphone, laptop or other device with a glowing screen.

"Turn off the toys and be as regular about it as the sun setting," Dr. Joshua Rotenberg, a pediatric neurologist and sleep specialist who practices in San Antonio and Houston, tells parents. "The best thing is to not look at gizmos an hour after sundown if you want your kids to sleep."

As U.S. children spend an increasing amount of time staring at screens that emit so-called blue light, researchers are delving into the light's possible effects on sleep. Studies have shown that having a TV in the bedroom poses a significant risk for sleep problems in children and that nighttime exposure to blue light can be disruptive in certain adults.

Though the impact of light from newer personal electronic devices on children is still being studied, limiting light exposure for children with an identified sleep problem can only help, Rotenberg says.

Until recently, Lorene Dillard's son, Travis, was using his iPhone, the TV and the computer right up until bedtime. The 11-year-old, who has autism, would struggle to fall asleep, lying in bed talking, despite taking medication. He'd then wake the family in the middle of the night, wanting to start the day.

"It was starting to impact the family quite heavily," his mother says.

She began monitoring his use of electronics. "What I started noticing is when he had interactions with those, he seemed to be recharging a battery - like a rush of adrenaline almost," she says. "When he was in front of the screen, he seemed to be the most wound up or alert."

About two months ago, she began turning off all electronics one hour before Travis' 9 p.m. bedtime. "It was a shot in the dark. I said, 'Let's try this,' " she says.

At first, her decision was met with loud protests. But now, a nightly winding-down routine consisting of a warm shower, songs and story time is followed by a quiet night for all.

"We honestly haven't had a sleeping problem since," Dillard says. "It's been this wonderful, miraculous change."

One study published in 2010 in the journal Sleep Medicine found that the use of electronic media by children and adolescents does appear to have a negative impact on their sleep.

The article, by researchers at Flinders University in Australia, says that as TV and computer screens become increasingly larger - and as bright-light exposure from screens is considered to influence production of melatonin, the hormone that helps us sleep - more studies may need to incorporate such variables.

At night, artificial light can stimulate some people. "If you're watching TV or playing on an iPad, it's like you're in California on the beach," Rotenberg says. "Your brain still thinks it's daytime."

That can delay the onset of sleep in susceptible people by an hour or more.

This is because the main way the brain synchronizes its natural clock is through light exposure. A set of cells in the retina is sensitive to light exposure and projects to the part of the brain that coordinates circadian rhythms. When activated by light, these cells send a signal to the brain, which then suppresses the release of melatonin.

Today, people with circadian rhythm disorders - for example, night owls who stay up late and sleep late - are prescribed the use of morning lamps that emit blue light.

In a study published this year, Swiss and German researchers found that the type of light emitted by some computer screens can affect circadian physiology and alertness. People ages 19 to 35 had a different physiological response to a typical computer screen versus computer screens that were adjusted to have lower levels of blue brightness, reported the article in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

"Probably there's a worry there," says George C. Brainard, director of the light-research program at Philadelphia's Thomas Jefferson University.

A video game, for example, provides both stimulation - the thrill of the game - and exposure to blue light.

"You're exciting the body," says Brainard, whose program looks at the biological and behavioral effects of light on humans.

Currently, Brainard's team is working on a new lighting system for the International Space Station, with funding from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute.

"The lighting system that we're working on for the space station, very specifically, will avoid using blue light in the evening for the astronauts" in order to best prepare their bodies for sleep, he says.

For children, sufficient sleep is important for learning, memory, emotional regulation and behavior.

"Your problems in the daytime are directly related to what's happening at night," says Dr. James H. Henderson, a sleep specialist at Christus Santa Rosa Hospital-City Centre in downtown San Antonio.

As ever more adolescents and teens have their own mobile electronic devices, they are devoting more time to peering into screens.

Children 8 and younger now spend an average of two and a quarter hours a day using screen media - almost an hour more per day than in 2005, reports a new survey by the nonprofit organization Common Sense Media.

Whether it was the light from the devices or the stimulation from their content that was keeping Travis Dillard up, his mother can't say. She is just grateful everyone in her home is getting more rest.

A calming bedtime routine can be the key, Henderson says. "We're gradually removing stimuli. We're gradually removing light. So when that child goes to bed, they have the best opportunity possible to go to sleep," he says.

Most children learn their behavior from watching adults, Henderson notes. Nearly everyone today seems to have accessories that devalue sleep.

"We, as parents, have to model for our kids as well, to get better sleep ourselves," Henderson says. "We have to model for our kids appropriate sleep patterns that make us healthier, better-functioning adults."

Houston Read More  here

San Antonio read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/life/article/When-screen-time-affects-kids-zzz-time-2399716.php

Largest-Ever Autism Research Network Takes Shape

Autism research efforts are getting a leg up with a new public-private partnership designed to make data on thousands with the developmental disability more available for study.

The National Institutes of Health said Monday that a new collaboration with Autism Speaks will create what’s believed to be the largest single source of research data on people with autism to date.

Under the partnership, scientists will be able to access information from the advocacy organization’s Autism Genetic Resource Exchange when they search the government’s National Database for Autism Research.

“This robust source of data will allow researchers to do what they do best — concentrate on the science — rather than expend time and resources on family recruitment and data collection,” said Clara Lajonchere, vice president of clinical programs at Autism Speaks.

On its own, the NIH database has information on 25,000 people. The partnership with Autism Speaks will add genetic, demographic and clinical data on members of 2,500 so-called multiplex families where more than one child is diagnosed with autism.

Previous collaborations made information searchable from the 7,500 families who self-report data to the Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Interactive Autism Network. In addition, the federal database already includes information from Autism Speaks’ Autism Tissue Program and the NIH Pediatric MRI Data Repository, federal officials said.

Read more: http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2011/12/13/largest-ever-autism-network/14627/

Autistic Children with Epilepsy are Often Sensitive to Light

For about 3% of the three million Americans with epilepsy, exposure to flashing lights at certain intensities or to certain visual patterns can trigger seizures. However, when epilepsy is combined with autism, researchers have found photosensitivity to be much more common.

Epilepsy is common in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Nearly a third of patients with an ASD have epileptic seizures. Recently, the American Epilepsy Society was presented with a recommendation that children who present to epilepsy clinics for treatment of seizures also be routinely screened for signs of autism and other developmental delays.

Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston reviewed the records of children diagnosed with autism between December 2010 and May 2011. To be included in the study, the children were to have had an electroencephalogram (EEG) either prior to or during the search period to determine the presence or absence of photoparoxysmal response (PPR) to intermittent photic stimulation.

During the EEG, sensors are attached to the patient’s scalp to monitor the electrical activity of the brain in various conditions, including light stimulation. An abnormal response indicates the presence of photosensitivity.

Dr. Jill Miller-Horn reported that the team found a “high overall incidence of photosensitivity in 25% of children over 15 years of age with autism spectrum disorder, and an even higher rate of 29.4% in that age group of children who had both epilepsy and autism.” She noted that this finding had not been previously reported.

Interestingly, not only flickering lights can trigger photosensitive epilepsies in children with autism, but also self-stimulatory behavior such as had flapping in front of the face.

Other sources of photosensitive epilepsy triggers include television screens, computer monitors, certain video games, intense strobe lights such as those on a fire alarm, and natural light especially when shimmering off water, flickering through trees or through the slats of Venetian blinds.

Dr. Miller-Horn notes that larger-scale studies are needed to confirm her team’s findings.

Read more: http://www.emaxhealth.com/1506/autistic-children-epilepsy-are-often-sensitive-light

Pollution plays a role in autism and dyslexia, say Israeli and foreign scientists

Conclusions emerge from presentations by Israeli and foreign scientists at a conference on the relationship between pollution and children's health problems.

Growing evidence suggests pollution plays a significant role in developmental problems among children, including autism, attention deficit disorder and even dyslexia, it was revealed at a conference on the subject in Israel Wednesday.

These conclusions emerged from presentations by Israeli and foreign scientists at a conference on the relationship between pollution and children's health problems. The conference, sponsored by the Environment and Health Fund, was part of the annual convention of the Israel Ambulatory Pediatric Association.

One of the principal speakers at the conference was Prof. Philip Landrigan, a pediatrician at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, who noted that many countries worldwide have reported a sharp rise in recent years in the prevalence of development disorders such as autism and ADD. This rise cannot be attributed solely to genetic factors or to higher rates of diagnosis, he said, and today, even researchers who once thought environmental factors could explain only a small fraction of the increased incidence of autism, for instance, have been convinced that it accounts for at least 25 percent of the rise.

Exposure to substances such as lead, mercury and pesticides is particularly dangerous for children, because they are more sensitive to these materials - in part because their brains are still developing, Landrigan said. A child's body also breaks down poisonous materials less efficiently than the adult body does, and any given quantity of chemical has more of an impact on a child because it constitutes a larger proportion of his body mass. Additionally, most children will spend more years being exposed to poisonous substances than adults will, he said.

Today, blood tests find hundreds of types of chemicals in children's blood, Landrigan noted. But little is known about the effects of most of these substances because they have never been studied. And while hundreds of other substances have been identified as harmful to human health, their impact on children in particular has generally not been investigated. Nor has research been done on the cumulative effect of exposure to multiple poisonous substances - though modern humanity makes use of some 80,000 different chemicals, he said.

Some Western countries have tried to contend with the problem by requiring chemical manufacturers to do more testing of and reporting on their products' health impact, but so far success has been partial.

Dr. Orna Metzner of the Environmental Protection Ministry said that Israel, too, is now working on creating a database for chemical safety data, as one of the commitments it undertook when it joined the OECD.

One of the successes of recent years has been in reducing children's exposure to lead. Dr. Tamar Berman, the Health Ministry's toxicologist, said the level of lead found in drinking water now exceeds the permitted maximum in only two percent of samples - though she stressed that, given the risks of lead exposure, this is still too much.

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/pollution-plays-a-role-in-autism-and-dyslexia-say-israeli-and-foreign-scientists-1.398829

Boys With Regressive Autism, but Not Early Onset Autism, Have Larger Brains Than Age-Matched Healthy Counterparts, Study Finds

In the largest study of brain development in preschoolers with autism to date, UC Davis MIND Institute researchers have found that 3-year-old boys with regressive autism, but not early onset autism, have larger brains than their healthy counterparts.

The study is published online in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition. It was led by Christine Wu Nordahl, a researcher at the UC Davis MIND Institute and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and David G. Amaral, Beneto Foundation Chair, MIND Institute Research Director and University of California Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

"The finding that boys with regressive autism show a different form of neuropathology than boys with early onset autism is novel," Nordahl said. "Moreover, when we evaluated girls with autism separately from boys, we found that no girls -- regardless of whether they had early onset or regressive autism --had abnormal brain growth."

Brain enlargement has been observed in previous studies of autism. However, prior to this study, little was known about how many and which children with autism have abnormally large brains.

"This adds to the growing evidence that there are multiple biological subtypes of autism, with different neurobiological underpinnings," Amaral said.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder whose symptoms include deficits in language and social interaction and communication. The condition affects 1 in 110 children born today, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is diagnosed more frequently in male children than female children -- at a ratio of 4 to 1.

The current study is one of the first published from data collected by the UC Davis MIND Institute Autism Phenome Project (APP). The project's goal is to recruit and enroll as many very young children as possible in order to collect sufficient biological and behavioral information to characterize different autism subgroups and to explore different neural, immunologic, and genetic signatures of autism.

Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111128152410

Stem cell transplant breakthrough 'may offer hope regarding epilepsy'

A new breakthrough regarding stem cell transplants could offer hope to those who are affected by epilepsy.

The neurological condition is one of the many researchers were hoping their work would shine a light on to, although their breakthrough is originally having an impact for autism and Parkinson's disease.

Jeffery Macklis, of Harvard University, explained the study used complex circuitry as a test case for whether precisely selected and controlled neuron transplants may be able to rewire the brain.

He was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying: "What we found is that these neurons not only turned into the right types of cells, but they sent signals to the recipient’s brain and received signals from the recipient's brain."

Mr Macklis said the next step for the research is to look into parallel areas of the brain, as well as the spiral cord, to link up the findings.

People affected by epilepsy may experience any one of 40 different types of seizures associated with the neurological condition.

Read more: http://www.epilepsyresearch.org.uk/news/article.php?id=487

Scientists identify defect in brain cell channel that may cause autism-like syndrome

Neuroscientists at Stanford University School of Medicine have homed in on potential differences in autistic people's brain cells by studying brainlike spheres grown in an elaborate process from skin cells.

The scientists studied cells from patients with Timothy syndrome, a rare genetic condition that is associated with one of the most penetrant forms of autism: In other words, most people with the Timothy syndrome mutation have autism as a symptom, among other problems.

Autism is a spectrum of developmental disorders of impaired social and verbal interaction. Currently, no medication exists to treat its underlying causes, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Understanding what goes awry in autistic brain development could improve prospects for treating the condition.

In this study, the scientists suggest that the autism in Timothy syndrome patients is caused by a gene mutation that makes calcium channels in neuron membranes defective, interfering with how those neurons communicate and develop. The flow of calcium into neurons enables them to fire, and the way that the calcium flow is regulated is a pivotal factor in how our brains function.

The researchers also found brain cells grown from individuals with Timothy syndrome resulted in fewer of the kind of cells that connect both halves of the brain, as well as an overproduction of two of the brain's chemical messengers, dopamine and norepinephrine. Furthermore, they found they could reverse these effects by chemically blocking the faulty channels.

Postdoctoral scholar Sergiu Pasca, MD, and Ricardo Dolmetsch, PhD, associate professor of neurobiology, led the study, which will be published online Nov. 27 in Nature Medicine. Dolmetsch, a biophysicist, redirected his research to study autism after his son was diagnosed with Timothy syndrome. It's unclear what leads to autism, but its incidence is increasing, he said.

The gaps in our understanding of the causes of psychiatric disorders such as autism have made them difficult to treat. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to research into autism and other psychiatric and neurological diseases is that scientists can't get living brain cell samples from people with these conditions, for obvious reasons. Dolmetsch and his colleagues figured out a solution to this dilemma, using a novel approach involving what are known as induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells.

"We developed a way of taking skin cells from humans with Timothy syndrome and converting them into stem cells, then converting those stem cells into neurons," said Dolmetsch.

Read more: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/sumc-sid112311.php

A new piece to the autism puzzle - Synapse formation must be just right!

Neuroscientists find that two rare autism-related disorders are caused by opposing malfunctions in the brain.

Most cases of autism are not caused by a single genetic mutation. However, several disorders with autism-like symptoms, including the rare Fragile X syndrome, can be traced to a specific mutation. Several years ago, MIT neuroscientist Mark Bear discovered that this mutation leads to overproduction of proteins found in brain synapses — the connections between neurons that allow them to communicate with each other. In a paper published today in Nature, Bear and colleagues have now shown that tuberous sclerosis, another rare disease characterized by autism and mental retardation, is caused by the opposite malfunction — too little synthesis of those synaptic proteins. Though the findings might seem counterintuitive, they fit into the theory that autism can be caused by a wide range of brain-synapse glitches, Bear says. “The general concept is that appropriate brain function occurs within a very narrow physiological range that is tightly maintained,” he says. “If you exceed that range in either direction, you have an impairment that can manifest as this constellation of symptoms, which very frequently go together — autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability and epilepsy.” Furthermore, the study suggests that any potential drugs developed to treat the cellular origins of autism would need to be carefully matched to the patient to ensure they do more good than harm. Drugs developed to treat Fragile X syndrome have shown encouraging results in human studies and are currently in Phase III clinical trials.

Read more: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/autism-1123.html

Researchers find troubling link between low birth weight and autism

Low birth weight babies, infants born weighing between one and five pounds, can face a host of long-term health and developmental issues, including illness, infection and, according to a study from theSchool of Nursing, an increased risk for autism.

For 25 years, Jennifer Pinto-Martin, the Viola MacInnes/Independence Professor of Nursing at Penn Nursing, has been involved in a longitudinal study examining a cohort of infants with a low birth weight.
Pinto-Martin, also director of theCenter for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology, says medical professionals knew very little in the 1980s about the long-term consequences of prematurity. To determine the lasting effects of being born at low birth weight, the cohort was assessed at ages 2, 6, 9, 16 and 21.

Of the 1,105 babies in the study, about 800 survived and were tracked by Pinto-Martin and colleagues. She says they began to realize that a few of the low birth weight babies in their cohort had already been diagnosed with autism, so they decided to take a more systematic look at the population.

When the cohort reached age 16, the teenagers were evaluated and screened for autism. Pinto-Martin says 18 percent screened positive.

With funding from the National Institutes of Health, Pinto-Martin and colleagues then performed a diagnostic assessment of the low birth weight cohort for autism.

At age 21, the cohort was given a full-scale diagnostic assessment comparing those who screened positive at age 16 and those who screened negative to determine the overall diagnostic prevalence. Pinto-Martin says they found a prevalence of 5 percent—five times that of the general population.

“Even though we knew that there were more [diagnoses of autism] in this cohort, we were surprised by the magnitude of it,” says Pinto-Martin. “We thought that it would maybe be double what we see in the general population. The fact that it was five times as much was quite shocking.”

Even more critical, she says, was the smaller the baby, the higher the risk. The autism risk for babies weighing about three pounds is 11 percent.
Pinto-Martin says her research team was among the first to link low birth weight and prematurity to an increased risk for autism, and the first to use validated, gold standard, interactive diagnostic instruments.

“It’s not easy to diagnose autism,” she says. It can take hours for a highly trained professional to complete an assessment of a child. A child could screen positive for autism and not have the disorder. He or she could be deaf or have a profound cognitive impairment.

Read more: http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/2011-11-17/research/researchers-find-troubling-link-between-low-birth-weight-and-autism

Brain implant 'could be used to treat epilepsy'

A brain implant has been developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia that could be used to treat epilepsy in the future.

Dr Brian Litt, the principal investigator and an associate professor of neurology at the facility, stated the electrode array may be used to pinpoint the exact location seizures start in the brain and even be able to act to shut them down.

The findings of the research are published in this month's issue of Nature Neuroscience and are also being presented at the 2011 Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington DC.

Dr Story Landis, director of the National Institude of Health's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the body that funded the research, added the work of the scientists on the study "reflects a confluence of skills and advances in electrical engineering, materials science and neurosurgery".

"These flexible electrode arrays could significantly expand surgical options for patients with drug-resistant epilepsy," he said.

In an animal model used for the study, the researchers witnessed spiral waves of brain activity not previously observed during a seizure by using the brain implant.

Dr Litt stated if they are able to replicate this finding with humans, it opens up "the possibility of treating seizures with therapies like those used for cardiac arrhythmias".

Read more: http://www.epilepsyresearch.org.uk/news/article.php?id=466

Sensor brings epileptic brain into focus

A flexible sensor is expected to offer unprecedented views of brain activity during epileptic seizures—as much as 400 times current levels—with minimal wiring.

Prior to the new technology, tapping into the human brain to understand its functions in daily life—as well as its malfunctions in illness—was challenging because of unwieldy, invasive arrays of electrodes and sensors that can damage tissue while only reading activity in a limited area. The need to wire each individual sensor at the electrode-tissue interface resulted in a mass of cumbersome leads rendering a high-resolution map of large areas logistically impossible.

Jonathan Viventi, assistant professor at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly), and colleagues devised a streamlined, implantable electrode array integrating ultrathin, flexible silicon transistors capable of sampling large areas of the brain with limited use of wires.

Reported in the November issue of Nature Neuroscience, the new approach allows dense arrays of thousands of multiplexed sensors that provide unprecedented—and minimally invasive—spatial resolution.

In experiments, just 39 wires were required for 360 electrodes. The design can be readily scaled to thousands of electrodes, while maintaining a small number of wires. The arrays are also non-penetrating and, unlike current techniques, cause little or no damage to fragile brain tissue. The use of flexible silicon also allows active circuitry to be built right at the brain surface.

“The circuits we’re familiar with are built on rigid silicon, which doesn’t conform to the body,” Viventi says. “Ultrathin silicon retains its performance while being flexible, and is much better suited to implantable devices. It’s the difference between a piece of paper and a piece of 2×4 lumber—same material, dramatically different properties.”

In experiments, researchers used their system to record various types of brain activity in animals, including sleep and visual responses and observation of the brain during an epileptic seizure. The techniques may improve understanding of what causes epilepsy and lead to implantable technologies to stop or prevent seizures in patients.

The scientists believe this is the first reported use of ultrathin, flexible silicon in a brain interface device and say the research holds promise for other medical applications, including improvements of existing implantable devices including cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators, cochlear and retinal implants, and motor prosthetic systems.

The longer-term goal is to configure these implantable arrays for use anywhere in the body, equipped with wirelessly controlled sensors capable of multiple functions such as recording, stimulating, and ablating.

Read more: http://www.futurity.org/health-medicine/sensor-brings-epileptic-brain-into-focus/