Seeing How The Brain Responds To Hugs Could Lead To Better Autism Diagnosis

Psychiatric disorders – including autism – are currently diagnosed based on a clinical behavioral assessment, a process that’s highly nuanced and highly subjective. 

To assess for autism in toddlers include, parents are asked: “If you point at something across the room, does your child look at it,” and “does your child play pretend or make-believe?” Anyone with a young child knows that these types of general questions are very difficult to conclusively answer. 

But now, Carnegie Mellow University researchers have created a potentially decisive way to diagnose autism— and other psychiatric disorders — with 97 percent accuracy: By examining how our brains respond to the thought of a hug. 

It’s common knowledge that people with autism act differently in social interactions than those without. Their ability to tune in to the thoughts and feelings of others does not develop in the same way as their neurotypical peers. “This means there is something different in their thought processes,” says lead researcher Marcel Just, D. O. Hebb Professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. ”So we know the difference has to be in the brain.” 

Just and his team discovered the exact part of the brain — and thus, the area of thought creation — in which those with autism process information differently. And this difference can be seen on a simple brain scan.