Behavioral Therapy Improves Brain Activity of Related to Social Stimuli in Autistic Children

Children with autism can benefit considerably from behavioral therapy.

Researchers from University of California and Yale University found the brain function related to social stimuli in autistic children showing remarkable improvement after they underwent a particular type of behavioral therapy, known as Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT).

The findings come at a time when about one in every 88 children in the country is affected with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a developmental disorder that leads to significant social, communication and behavioral challenges.

The small study included two children aged 5. The participants underwent the treatment eight to 10 hours weekly for 16 weeks. The brain activity of these children was monitored with the help of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).  Researchers found the Pivotal Response Treatment bringing about noticeable changes in the way the children process social stimuli.

Interestingly, the therapy, which focuses more on pivotal areas like motivation than on specific skills like block-building, was found making the children capable of using the brain area related to social skills similar to normal children of their age.

"The cool thing that we found was that these kids showed increased activation in regions of the brain utilized by typically developing kids. After four months of treatment, they're starting to use brain regions that typically developing kids are using to process social stimuli," Avery C. Voos, one of the lead authors of the study, said in a news release. "We can say that we have shifted the way these children are processing low-level social stimuli, and that's what we want. There's a social deficit in autism, so any improvement toward social interaction really helps with development. That's what makes this very exciting, and it speaks to the promise and success of PRT."

Findings of the study have been published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.