Autism Diagnosed With a Fifteen Minute Brain Scan

kkleiner writes "A new technique developed at King's College London uses a fifteen minute MRI scan to diagnose autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The scan is used to analyze the structure of grey matter in the brain, and tests have shown that it can identify individuals already diagnosed with autism with 90% accuracy. The research could change the way that autism is diagnosed – including screening children for the disorder at a young age."

Comments

Re:Unacceptable false positive rate

[mangu]

I probably have Asperger's too, because I'm an analyzer and often come to the conclusion that some widely accepted behaviour is often rather stupid.

Then I must have Asperger's too. I don't go to church, I don't watch sports on TV, I believe that men went to the moon, I believe that heavy use of fossil fuels is causing global warming, and I believe fluor is good for your teeth.

Maybe I was vaccinated when I was a kid.

Re:I'm not exactly impressed...

[Shrike82]

While I understand that your post was humerous, I feel somehow compelled to point out that you'd have a 0% true positive rate with your rock, a 0% false positive rate, a 99% true negative rate and a 1% false negative rate.

Hmm, I think I might be autistic myself judging by my inability to resist making this post.

Re:Unacceptable false positive rate

[aastanna]

Sounds like every episode of House.

Re:I'm not exactly impressed...

[Thanshin]

Hmm, I think I might be autistic myself judging by my inability to resist making this post.

Here, hold this rock for a second.