Pupil reaction time to flash light can help screen austism early?
Posted on 13. Nov, 2009 by Turbo in Health
Researchers from University of Missouri, Columbia say that response of eyes to light help in the diagnosis of autism much earlier.
The pupil response to light is the parameter that the researchers at the University of Missouri, Columbia studied and they came out with interesting numbers. An autistic child will have the pupil response to light change by about 92.5 % faster as compared to 100% by a normal child.
The study was published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.Researchers have taken a binocular infrared device which is used for vision testing by eye doctors. And then they measured the pupil reaction time or pupil response time to flash light for say 100 milliseconds. They found that the pupil of autistic child reacted slower to the light as compared to the normal or the control group.
The results will need further validation from a larger sample before developing into biomarker to diagnose and screen autism much early. Early diagnosis of autism will have great impact on the child’s prognosis and developmental results.
