Neuro-Modulation Therapy- A Ray of Hope for Treating Autism

Autism is a lifelong, developmental disorder that affects the communicating capacity of the individual. It also affects the way he/she relates to other people, and how they feel and perceive the world around them.

A new development has been done in the way to treat Autism.

Scientists are examining the possibility of treating autistic children with neuro-modulation therapy. A new research has paved the way to treat autism by brain stimulation process. It has long been thought that a region near the brain stem have only the role in coordinating activities of individual. That very region is critical for autistic behaviors. It also establishes a more obtainable target for brain stimulation. It can help to uncover many autism-related neural circuits that are buried deep inside the brain. Although neuro- modulation would not cure the genetic cause of autism; but, it may improve social deficits in autistic children. Ultimately, it could make a positive impact on their quality of life. The process of cerebellar neuromodulation has successfully applied to ailment such as schizophrenia; it has not been studied in children with autism yet. The reason behind this is the targeted area of the brain called cortex has not received the focus it deserves in regards to understanding autism. The scientists applied this process on mice and reflected that cerebellar stimulation improved social behaviors but not the repetitive behaviors characteristic of autism in those subject mice. They have found that neuromodulation restored social behaviors even in adult mice. It has been suggested that autistic children may still get benefited from that treatments even if intervention is delayed until later phase of their life. It is a ray of hope for autistic children.

By: Anita Aishvarya