Children with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disabilities often have limited options to enhance their communication and social skills.
While talking therapies and behavioral programs can assist some children in developing these skills, they rely on specialists who are in short supply, even in affluent nations.
Research from the US suggests that approximately 30-35% of autistic children also have an intellectual disability.
These children are less likely to receive treatment compared to those without intellectual disabilities, partly due to doctors’ lack of confidence in managing their needs and inconsistent insurance coverage. Despite facing greater challenges and placing more demands on their families, they are a group often overlooked by researchers.
This gap inspired us to explore a new intervention: the use of brief, targeted magnetic pulses to stimulate specific brain areas. This technique, known as non-invasive brain stimulation or neuromodulation, is non-surgical and doesn’t require anaesthesia or medication.
A device positioned near the scalp creates a rapidly changing magnetic field that safely passes through the skull and activates neurons beneath.
This method has been utilized for years to treat depression, and researchers are increasingly investigating its potential to alleviate social and communication difficulties associated with autism.
The technique we examined employs theta-burst stimulation, which delivers pulses in rapid sequences rather than individually.
This approach significantly shortens each session compared to traditional methods, an important advantage when working with young children who need to remain still and cooperative.
In our study, detailed in the BMJ, each session was just a few minutes long, with the entire course completed in five days.
Participants were divided into two groups: one received actual stimulation, while the other underwent a placebo treatment. In the placebo setup, the equipment was applied similarly but only delivered vibrations without active pulses.
This design allowed us to compare outcomes without either group knowing their treatment type, ensuring reliable results.
The study involved 194 children, with an average age of about six and a half years.
Approximately half had IQ scores below 70, considered a low-functioning range, though all scored above 50, the threshold for reliable diagnosis and meaningful study participation.
Parents completed a questionnaire assessing their child’s social communication before treatment, immediately after, and again a month later.
Improvements observed after five days persisted a month later, and the effect size was significant by clinical research standards. Children also showed enhanced language abilities.
There were no reports of serious side effects, and all minor side effects resolved without intervention.
Early days
Children were recruited from various sites through advertisements in outpatient clinics and local clinical registries, with all legal guardians providing written consent.
Children with intellectual disabilities are frequently excluded from such trials, leaving a significant gap in evidence for their treatment. Including them in this study in substantial numbers is noteworthy, but it marks only an initial step.
Questions remain about the duration of benefits beyond a month, the number of sessions required to sustain them, and how this approach would fare outside a research environment in a typical clinical setting.
Related: Researchers Say We’re Missing Something Important About Autism
Brain stimulation should not replace behavioral support, and the necessary equipment is neither inexpensive nor widely available.
Traditional methods, where available, often require daily sessions over several weeks with a professional, incurring significant time, financial, and specialist resource costs.
A five-day course offers a different option. For families already under strain, even modest and lasting improvements in a child’s communication skills could be tremendously beneficial, enhancing their quality of life and wellbeing.
Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology, University of Cambridge; Christelle Langley, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Cambridge; Fei Li, Professor of Pediatrics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Qiang Luo, Associate Principal Investigator of Neuroscience, Fudan University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
