By Aimee Keenan - Greene

A new Study in the American Journal of Psychiatry says the signs of autism may be noticeable in the brains of children as young as six months of age.Ninety-two high-risk infant siblings underwent diffusion tensor imaging at 6 months and behavioral assessments at 24 months. Most also underwent additional imaging data at 12 and/or 24 months of age.  Scientists were looking to examine the white matter fiber tract organization.Results showed at 24 months, 28 infants met criteria for ASDs and 64 infants did not. Micro-structural properties of white matter fiber tracts reported to be associated with ASDs or related behaviors were characterized by fractional anisotropy and radial and axial diffusivity. The study authors from both the US and Canada say "the fractional anisotropy trajectories for 12 of 15 fiber tracts differed significantly between the infants who developed ASDs and those who did not. Development for most fiber tracts in the infants with ASDs was characterized by higher fractional anisotropy values at 6 months followed by slower change over time relative to infants without ASDs. Thus, by 24 months of age, those with ASDs had lower values."  In essence, the fiber connections didn't form as quickly in kids who turned out to be later diagnosed with autism.  This new research could help doctors provide early interventions.Autism affects 1 out of every 110 children in the United States says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.It typically appears during the first three years of life and is four times more prevalent in boys than girls.Autism is the most common of the Pervasive Developmental Disorders, according to the CDC - affecting an estimated 2 to 6 per 1,000 people.  As many as 1.5 million Americans have some form of autism.The U.S. Department of Education says autism is growing at a rate of 10-17 percent per year and could reach 4 million Americans in the next decade.Autism is believed to be the result of a neurological disorder impacts the normal development of the brain in the areas of social interaction and communication skills, according to the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities