Detect autism in children by testing their reaction to smell

Just by letting a child smell something and observing their reaction, we can know if the child has autism or not.

Illustration photo, source Internet.

Most people take deeper breaths when they smell something pleasant or limit their breathing when they smell something unpleasant, but researchers say that children with autism do not have this regulatory mechanism. Children with autism will continue to smell whether it is something pleasant or unpleasant.

According to research results published in the journal Current Biology, we can completely recognize early signs of autism in young children with just a small test without using any words, just letting the child smell something with a certain smell. That is the premise for us to be sure whether the child has autism or not when they are a few years older.

“There are clear differences in smell patterns between autistic children and children without the disorder,” said Professor Noam Sobel of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.

To prove the finding, the Weizmann Institute conducted a small but convincing experiment involving 36 children, 18 with autism and 18 without. These children were exposed to pleasant and unpleasant odors while the researchers examined their smell responses. The average age of the study subjects was 7.

Children without autism adjusted their smelling behavior within 305 milliseconds of exposure to the odor. However, children with autism did not. The difference in response allowed the researchers to identify children with autism with 81% accuracy. They also found that the more severe the autism symptoms, the longer the child spent smelling the odor.

“We can identify autism and its severity with meaningful accuracy in less than 10 minutes using a completely non-verbal test without any accompanying tasks,” added Professor Sobel.

“We hope that this discovery can form the basis for the development of a diagnostic tool that can be applied very early, such as in children just a few months old who are still learning to walk. Early diagnosis will allow for more effective interventions” – Weizmann Institute of Science.

Researchers are now testing whether observing people's reactions to smell can help detect other mental illnesses. They also want to determine how early we can use the test on a person.

Vo Ngoc Trung

Source: The Mirror UK