Unlike other psychiatric and neurological conditions there is currently no medical treatment for high functioning autism or Asperger's. Photo: Virginia Star
Unlike other psychiatric and neurological conditions there is currently no medical treatment for high functioning autism or Asperger's.
But researchers in Melbourne say a "critically important" new treatment could improve the social skills of people with autism spectrum disorder and it all comes down to stimulating the brain with magnetic fields.
Treatment for autism at present centres on behaviour intervention, but it relies on the early diagnoses of children, associate professor of psychology from Deakin University Dr Peter Enticott said ahead of his talk at the Australian Academy of Science Shine Dome on Wednesday night.
"As it stands autism is incredibly prevalent, the rates at the moment suggest one in 68 kids are being diagnosed in the states [US] and we're not too different from that in Australia," he said.
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But adolescents and adults with autism have few treatment options.
"They'll often get treatment for the associated problems, around depression and anxiety, but in terms of the social symptoms and obsessions and restricted interests of autism there really isn't much out there past early childhood," Dr Enticott said.
Using a plastic-coated metal coil the non-invasive repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) does not require anaesthetic and has few side effects.
It works by sending a magnetic pulse through to the brain generating an electric current to activate brain cells.
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Stimulating the brain with a magnetic pulse could be first treatment for autism and Asperger's