Dana Byrd
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Neurol Neurophysiol
A biomarker in newborns at risk of developing Autism would be obviously highly valuable, allowing for very early
intervention. Cerebellar structural and functional abnormalities have been found in individuals with Autism, as have
been found abnormalities in the cerebellar-cortical-mediated learning, conditioning of eye blink. In the first two studies
presented, we show behavioral and electroencephalographic evidence that sleeping newborn infants can present eye blink
conditioning to a tone. In a third study, we produce evidence that 1-month-old infants’ eye blink conditioning is more rapid
when the conditioned stimulus is a human voice as compared to a tone. These research studies have only been conducted on
healthy infants, who are at no additional risk for Autism. However, research with populations at risk for Autism may show that
these paradigms and their behavioral and electroencephalographic measures of conditioning may be able to detect atypical
cerebellar functioning in at-risk populations. It should be pointed out that while these behavioral and electroencephalographic
measures of conditioning to tones show some promise for determining risk for Autism, they are not as a diagnostic tool, but
instead are a biomarker for risk for general cerebellar-cortical dysfunction, which is not only present in Autism but in other
disorders as well such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Dyslexia. There is stronger hope for a specific biomarker
for Autism in the form of atypical conditioning to the human voice since individuals with Autism have been found to process
spoken stimuli differently than individuals without Autism.
Dana Byrd completed his PhD at the age of 29 years from University of Florida and postdoctoral studies from Columbia University School of Medicine.She has
published more than 15 papers in reputed journals.
