Predicting Future Diagnosis from Brain Data Alone
- Source: The Neuroethics Blog
Imagine you are the parent of two children. Your oldest, a boy, was diagnosed with autism last year and just celebrated his fourth birthday. Your youngest, a girl, is six months old. You’ve heard that autism runs in families; you know this means that your daughter is at higher risk than most children. But you’ve also heard that boys tend to get autism at a higher rate than girls. Your daughter, like her brother, is a poor sleeper, and sometimes you wonder whether she is more interested in looking at the ceiling fan than at you…but other times she smiles at you or her brother and seems very engaged. You find yourself making comparisons between your two children frequently, and wondering…will she have autism too?
A friend tells you that just last year, researchers were able to scan the brains of babies when they were six to twelve months old and predict, for the first time, who would develop autism by age two. Your friend then poses the inevitable question: would you want this test for your daughter?
Access to the full article is available to SfN members.
Neuronline is a benefit of SfN membership. Renew your membership now to make sure you don’t lose access.
About the Contributor
