Newswise — Some children with autism experience profound, lifelong difficulties like developmental delay, social struggles and even the inability to speak. Others experience more mild symptoms that improve with time. The disparity in outcomes has been a mystery to scientists, until now.
A new study , published in Molecular Autism by researchers at University of California San Diego, is the first to shed light on the matter. Among its findings: The biological basis for these two subtypes of autism develops in utero. Researchers used blood-based stem cells from 10 toddlers, ages 1 through 4, with idiopathic autism (in which no single-gene cause was identified) to create brain cortical organoids (BCOs), or models of the fetal cortex.
They also created BCOs from six neurotypical toddlers. Often referred to as gray matter, the cortex lines the outside of the brain. It holds tens of billions of nerve cells and is responsible for essential functions like consciousness, thinking, reasoning, learning, memory, emotions and sensory functions.
Among their findings: The BCOs of toddlers with autism were significantly larger — roughly 40 percent — than those of neurotypical controls, according to two rounds of study performed in different years (2021 and 2022). Each round involved the creation of hundreds of organoids from each patient. The researchers also found that abnormal BCO growth in toddlers with autism correlated with their disease presentation.
The larger a toddler’s BCO .
