Diane Chugani, Ph.D., professor of Pediatrics and Radiology at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, was recently awarded a $5.79 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health for a study that may open doors to finding a treatment for improving those afflicted with autism.

The grant, “Early Pharmacotherapy Guided by Biomarkers in Autism,” will continue earlier research that showed that the brain serotonergic system is abnormal during critical periods of brain development in children with autism.

In this study, Dr. Chugani and her team demonstrated that serotonin synthesis capacity in children younger than 6 was significantly altered when compared to non-autistic children.

Serotonin, an important factor involved in postnatal synaptogenesis -- or specialized junctions through which neurons signal to each other and other non-neuronal cells to form interconnected circuits within the central nervous system that are crucial to the biological processes that underlie perception and thought -- is thought to be one potential target to treatment of autism. Through the use of the 5hT1A serotonin agonist, buspirone, in children younger than 6, Dr. Chugani hopes to uncover a new and safe treatment in groups or subgroups of autistic children.