Meg scan

I saw a clip on the "meg scan" on the Today show.  It said it was brand new brain scan that doctor's are using for people with epilepsy.  They also mention briefly this technology could be used with kids with autism.  I am wondering how this could be benefitial for kids with autism?  Also, I wanted to know if there was a meg scan in the Los Angeles area?
Any help would be appreciated.
Wendy Robinson

[KarenDiane]

This is an article that I found through Google about Meg scans.


According to a press release in Newswise, a new study from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia may have pinpointed a tool to diagnose autism.  According to the article:

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) process sound and language a fraction of a second slower than children without ASDs, and measuring magnetic signals that mark this delay may become a standardized way to diagnose autism....

In the current study, Roberts and colleagues used magnetoencephalography (MEG), which detects magnetic fields in the brain, similar to the way electroencephalography (EEG) detects electrical fields. Using a helmet that surrounds the child's head, the team presents a series of recorded beeps, vowels and sentences. As the child's brain responds to each sound, noninvasive detectors in the MEG machine analyze the brain's changing magnetic fields.

The researchers compared 25 children with ASDs, having a mean age of 10 years, to 17 age-matched typically developing children. The children with ASDs had an average delay of 11 milliseconds (about 1/100 of a second) in their brain responses to sounds, compared to the control children. Among the group with ASDs, the delays were similar, whether or not the children had language impairments.

The reasons for this delay in processing are still somewhat unclear; according to one of the researchers, ""The delayed auditory response that we find in children with ASDs may reflect delayed white matter development in these children."

[dollyn]

I know they have one of these in the DC and are doing some studying. I have a phone number for them and I am sure they can help you  301-496-1211 or 301-496-2626

hope this helps you.