SANTIAGO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Chilean researchers have inched closer to the trigger of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), a complex and mystifying neurodevelpomental disability that has been on rise for years, local media reported on Tuesday.
Scientists at Chile's Andres Bello University have discovered that an alteration in the signals received by the brain increases "the expression" of one of the main genes that associated with ASD, the Chilean daily El Mercurio reported.
The study was published Monday in the online medical journal Translational Psychiatry, a division of Nature.
While the population with ASD has doubled in the past 10 years across the world, the cause of it remains uncertain.
"Our research indicates the existence of a pathway that would occur early in embryonic development and that would mould the brain towards a subtly different structure in children with the disorder," said biologist Giancarlo de Ferrari, leader of the study.
The knowledge could eventually help doctors understand what triggers ASD and how to make an early diagnosis at the embryonic stage by developing a blood test to detect anomalies, he added.
