A new brain stimulation technique utilising magnetic pulses has shown significant promise in addressing social communication challenges in autistic children.
Researchers suggest this method could offer a "viable and scalable therapeutic option" for young people living with the condition.
Social communication difficulties – such as understanding social cues, conversational turn-taking and interpreting body language – are identified as a "core symptom" of autism.
Experts leading the trial in China noted that this aspect of the condition "lacks effective treatments".
To tackle this, researchers investigated accelerated continuous theta burst stimulation (a-cTBS), a non-invasive brain stimulation technique previously explored for conditions such as depression.
This method delivers rapid magnetic pulses to the brain's left primary motor cortex, a region crucial for movement, language, and social cognition.
The study involved 200 autistic children aged between four and 10, with half also presenting intellectual disabilities. Participants were divided into two groups: one received 10 sessions of a-cTBS over five days, while the other underwent a sham treatment.
Of the 193 children who completed the trial, results indicated that a-cTBS "significantly improved" social communication, with benefits observed during a one-month follow-up period.
The a-cTBS group also showed greater improvements in language abilities.
Researchers said the technique also showed a “favourable safety profile”, with “mild to moderate” side-effects which “all resolved spontaneously without the need for intervention”.
They added: “These findings support a-cTBS as a viable and scalable therapeutic option for children with autism spectrum disorder.”
Reacting to the findings, which are published in the BMJ, experts said the treatment should not replace other forms of support, but could “become an important component” of care for autistic children.
It is estimated more than one in 100 people are autistic, with at least 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK.
In a linked editorial, Professor Benjamin Becker of the University of Hong Kong said behavioural programmes for autism patients can be “time consuming, often inaccessible, or only partially effective”.
He said: “The message is one of cautious optimism: accelerated continuous theta burst stimulation to the left primary motor cortex should not replace psychosocial support or educational adaptation, but, if further replicated and integrated thoughtfully with behavioural care, it may become an important component of a multimodal pathway for children with autism and major social communication difficulties.”
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