Cry acoustics ‘could be used to assess risk of autism in infants’

Clinicians could increase their understanding of a baby's risk of autism by assessing various aspects of their cry acoustics.

This is according to a new study from the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk and the University of Pittsburgh, which examined the cries of both at-risk and low-risk infants aged six months.

It found that at-risk infants produced pain-related cries with higher and more variable fundamental frequency than others, with many of those with the most high-pitched cries going on to be diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs).

This could help to further increase understanding about the development of autism, which remains a poorly understood and largely untreatable condition.

Dr Stephen Sheinkopf, lead researcher and psychologist at the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, said: "It may be possible to use this technique to identify risk for neurological problems such as autism long before we can detect behavioral differences."

In England, it is estimated that one in every 100 children has an ASD, with prevalence rates among boys being three to four times higher than girls.