Clinical Research

Autism

Neurocircuitry of Developmental Differences in Social and Repetitive Behaviors: MRI, fMRI and TMS Studies

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to study areas of the brain that may have something to do repetitive movements (things that people do over and over again) and difficulty communicating with other people (problems with talking to, understanding, or just being in a relationships with other people). We are trying to find out why these brain areas are working differently in people with developmental disorders, such as autism, Asperger's or other developmental disorders and how we can one day improve them with new brain stimulation techniques. There are three procedures: screening, magnetic resonance imaging, and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

Study Design

Subjects with Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, and pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified will be compared to healthy controls using a panel of neuropsychological tests, fMRI, and TMS. The fMRI paradigm is a passive task requiring the subject to watch a short series of films in the scanner. The form of TMS used in this study is low frequency TMS, which is minimal risk.

For more information

Phone (office)

212-543-5647

Email

BBClinic@columbia.edu