Baby sensor cap test to learn how autism develops

Updated 11:37 AM Aug 02, 2012

LONDON - Scientists are recruiting newborn babies to help with important research into how autism develops.

The tiny subjects, each volunteered and monitored closely by their parents, will be dressed in an elaborate cap made up of multi-coloured sensors to monitor how they develop.

As the babies move, the sensors will record data to try to find out how they learn, reported the Daily Telegraph.

It is hoped the findings, gathered at Durham University, will eventually help scientists understand how and why some children come to be diagnosed as autistic.

Researchers are now seeking babies up to ten weeks old for the project, to take part in "non-invasive, harmless and painless" tests.

The babies will not be medically tested for autism, but information gleaned from the early tests could help define differences in development as they grow up.

Five-month-old Ricky Kimber has already taken part in the tests, giggling and smiling his way through as if it was playtime.

Strapped in to his special sensor cap, he spent time trying to "walk" in a small water tank and watched films of people walking on a screen to see how his brain activity was affected.

His mother, Ms Rachel Mitchell from Tow Law, Country Durham, said: "It is important to have volunteers because without research we cannot learn about how our children develop."

Dr Vincent Reid, a psychologist at Durham University who leads the research, said: "We are not doing any medical testing in this study but purely looking at babies' brains from an academic point of view.

"We don't yet know enough about how the brains of very young babies develop and how they react to things.

"It is vital we know more as we need to understand how learning from other people occurs at such an early age.

"More learning about the world takes place during infancy than at any other time in development and understanding how exactly this takes place is critical." AGENCIES