Magnetic stimulation therapy shows promise for the treatment of autism symptoms
Manuel Casanova, M.D.
A treatment called transcranial magnetic stimulation has the potential to become an effective therapy for the major symptoms of autism, said UofL neuroscientist Manuel Casanova, M.D.
When UofL researchers pulsed a low-frequency magnetic field around the brains of people with autism, the patients later experienced less severe symptoms.
To conduct evaluations of the therapy, which is still in early testing stages, members of a UofL research team placed a coil on the scalps of 10 people with autism to create a low-frequency magnetic field, which they then pulsed by reversing the field’s polarity. After receiving 20-minute treatments twice a week for five weeks, patients showed fewer symptoms of hyperactivity, sensory overload and repetitive behaviors, according to psychologist Lonnie Sears, Ph.D., a project collaborator.
The team assessed symptoms before and after the treatment by measuring patients’ brain activity and their scores on standard neurological and psychological tests.
Casanova has demonstrated in previous studies that structural differences between autistic and normal brains contribute to the symptoms of autism, which include sensory, social and communication problems that limit the patients’ ability to function independently.
“Our results are preliminary, but they show a great deal of promise in reducing the severity of symptoms that people with autism find most distressing and, as a result, helping them communicate and relate better — something that most of us take for granted,” Casanova said.
The team also found that the treatment did not seem to affect areas of “giftedness” in the test group.
“This is important,” Casanova said, “because, despite communication and social problems, some people with autism are very gifted in specific areas of intelligence.”
