Diffusion tensor imaging

Recent articles

MRI scan of a 2-year-old child.

Mapping genetic influences on the infant brain: A chat with Rebecca Knickmeyer

Researchers know little about the ways genetic variants affect development in the infant brain. Knickmeyer, who launched the Organization for Imaging Genomics in Infancy, has spent the past five years trying to close the gap.

By Laura Dattaro
27 February 2023 | 6 min read
Structural anomalies (purple and blue) in the brains of babies with autism at 6 months (bottom row) become more widespread by 12 months (top row).

Weak ‘wiring’ in infant brains augurs severe autism features

Babies who are later diagnosed with autism may show aberrant connections between some brain regions in their first year of life.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
21 August 2017 | 4 min read

Brain scans of babies reveal how nerve tracts mature

Bundles of nerve fibers that bridge brain areas develop rapidly during the first six months of life. Fibers that connect language regions mature more slowly than those linking motor regions.

By Katie Moisse
13 May 2017 | 3 min read

Common brain signature marks autism, attention deficit

Children with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder all show similar disruptions in brain structure.

By Ann Griswold
8 August 2016 | 3 min read

Motor troubles in Angelman may stem from nerve fiber anomaly

Unusually thin nerve fibers in the brain may underlie the motor difficulties seen in children with Angelman syndrome, an autism-related condition.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
1 August 2016 | 5 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Tightly folded autism brain tied to dense neural connections

An intricately pleated brain may underlie the highly organized connections between nearby neurons in people with autism.

By Jessica Wright
2 June 2016 | 5 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Extra-thick connections mark brains of toddlers with autism

The brains of young children with autism show abnormally dense connections involving the frontal lobe. The excess wiring may disrupt the development of social and language circuits.

By Rachel Zamzow
18 September 2015 | 4 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Thick bridge of nerves may signal autism in infancy

The bundle of nerves that connects the brain’s two hemispheres is abnormally thick in infants who are later diagnosed with autism. The broader the bundle, called the corpus callosum, the more severe a child’s symptoms.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
4 June 2015 | 4 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Brain structure abnormalities predict repetitive behaviors

Among babies who go on to receive a diagnosis of autism at age 2, alterations in brain structures forecast the severity of repetitive behaviors. The preliminary results were presented Saturday at the 2015 International Meeting for Autism Research in Salt Lake City, Utah.    

By Nicholette Zeliadt
19 May 2015 | 3 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Head movement in scanners skews brain measurements

Even small movements of the head during magnetic resonance imaging can lead to spurious measurements of brain structures, according to a new study.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
9 January 2015 | 3 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Illustration of two silhouettes overlaid by opaque square panels.

Why hasn’t genetics taught us more about schizophrenia?

Large-scale genomics studies have failed to identify specific pathways that go awry in schizophrenia. Alternative approaches focusing on cellular, molecular and systems-level changes may be needed.

By Joshua R. Sanes
18 February 2025 | 8 min read
Research image of brain signaling.

Depression perception; MYT1L mice; brain signal variability

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 17 February.

By Jill Adams
18 February 2025 | 1 min read
Computer-generated illustration of a brain with a faint outline of another brain superimposed slightly above it.

Does the solution to building safe artificial intelligence lie in the brain?

Now is the time to decipher what makes the brain both flexible and dependable—and to apply those lessons to AI—before an unaligned agentic system wreaks havoc.

By Patrick Mineault
17 February 2025 | 6 min read