3D Facial Pattern Analysis for Autism

PUBLIC ABSTRACT

The proposed studies represent an innovative and technically sophisticated approach to find a consistent facial pattern in a core group of autism children who have been most difficult to characterize. Confirmation of a facial phenotype in essential autism will confirm autism's developmental origins and will allow us to hold the developmental component constant, and thus study biochemical and environmental agents more effectively. Development of a quantitative evaluation algorithm to reliably define the phenotype will make this a useful phenotype for studies of autism's clinical and genetic heterogeneity, and this will let us develop subtype specific information about heritability and treatment recommendations, and may provide a potential prescreening tool to assist early diagnosis.