King's College London - Brain-scan breakthrough

Scientists funded by the Medical Research Council have developed a new rapid method of diagnosing autism in adults. For the first time, a quick brain scan that takes just 15 minutes can identify adults with autism with more than 90 per cent accuracy. Christine Ecker, lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, which carried out the study, said: "The value of this rapid and accurate tool to diagnose autistic-spectrum disorders is immense. It could help to alleviate the need for the emotional, time-consuming and expensive process of diagnosis that patients and families currently have to endure."