University of Missouri. US: Early detection of autism in children is key for treatment, and
researchers at the University of Missouri are inching closer to
determining the viability of using facial measurements as a potential
detection marker.
Ye Duan,
associate professor of computer science, worked with postdoctoral
fellow Tayo Obafemi-Ajayi, Assistant Professor of Pathology Kristina
Aldridge, as well as Judith Miles and T. Nicole Takahashi of MU’s Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. The team’s work resulted in a paper,
“Facial structure analysis separates autism spectrum disorders into
meaningful clinical subgroups,” which recently was published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
The paper is a continuation of the 2011 paper “Facial phenotypes in
subgroups of pre-pubertal boys with autism spectrum disorders are
correlated with clinical phenotypes.” That work used straight-line, or
Euclidean, measurements to determine distance between standardized
facial landmarks in a group of autistic children and a control group.
This time, the geodesic distances were measured via three-dimensional
imaging, measuring along the curvature of the face rather than in a
straight line.
The data examined in the paper revealed three different clusters of
“relatively distinctive clinical and behavioral traits.” One of the
three subgroups categorized by this most recent study exhibited similar
characteristics to one of the groups in the 2011 study, and this most
recent paper posits that since similar results were reached using both
Euclidean and geodesic measurements and different cluster techniques,
facial measurements may provide a biomarker for autism.
“We want to define the autistic face,” Duan said. “There’s probably
not a single autistic face, but we want to try to find how many
different main types of the face there are, if there are any.”
The process began back in 2009 with a grant from the Department of
Defense’s Defense Medical Research and Development Program. Duan said
Miles noticed similarities in facial features among some autistic
children and thought perhaps there was something more than coincidence
at play.
“Dr. Miles told me she noticed a subgroup of the face of autistic
children looks very beautiful and looks very different,” said Duan. “She
said maybe there was something we can do on that.”
Strict limitations were placed on participants for inclusion in the
study. The children selected were between 8 and 12 years old, male and
Caucasian. There were 62 children in the autistic group as diagnosed by
the Thompson Center, and 36 non-autistic children in the control group.
The goal was to eliminate the variable of different facial features
between different ethnic groups and genders, with the hopes that after
determining the markers in one group, markers can later be determined
for the other groups individually.
It’s a long process, but Duan said he’s hopeful the work inevitably
will lead to a viable early detection system for the maximum amount of
children possible.
“Potentially, it could be used for early detection screening,” he
said. “We need a bigger study, and I hope we have the opportunity to do
another round. The next time, we want to have a bigger range, more
children and hopefully validate (this study).”