Source: Karolinska Institutet & Uppsala University (ki.se / uu.se)
A major donation now allows researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University to track children’s growth from infancy up to ten years of age. The long-term project, called Early Autism/ADHD Sweden (EASE), uses several advanced research techniques and has already provided new insights into early signs of autism and ADHD. The new extension makes it possible to study how children’s growth changes over time.
How do autism and ADHD appear early in life, and how do those early signs connect to later growth? Researchers have been investigating these questions through the EASE study since 2011. The project is a long-term research partnership between the Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND) at Karolinska Institutet and the DIVE lab at the Department of Psychology, Uppsala University.
Today, when early symptoms raise concern, parents are often informed that the signs are not yet distinct enough for a diagnosis, meaning progress must be tracked over time. In the EASE study, researchers monitor children who have a close relative with autism or ADHD, which raises their likelihood of receiving a diagnosis. At the same time, most participating children do not end up with a diagnosis. This setup allows scientists to observe both typical growth and early variations within the same study.
“The EASE study is one of the most extensive and long-running research programmes in Sweden in this field. What makes the project special is that we follow children from the very first months of life and combine many different methods,” says Terje Falck-Ytter, professor of psychology at Uppsala University and research group leader at KIND, Karolinska Institutet.
The research team collects behavioral records and performs clinical evaluations while using tools such as eye tracking, pupil measurements, EEG, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. The project also examines gut microbiota to explore whether it affects early brain growth. By gathering data at regular checkpoints, researchers can map how traits unfold over time, sharing findings across international research partnerships.
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Early Patterns of Attention and Perception
The project has already generated several key research findings. One study revealed that infants who later receive an autism diagnosis follow other people’s gaze just as well as other infants, but are less likely to start joint attention on their own at ten months of age.
“This may point to an early reduction in social motivation, rather than a difficulty in perceiving other people’s gaze or intentions,” says Terje Falck-Ytter.
Earlier research within the project showed that three-year-old children with autism display a strong ability to spot visual details within complex images-a trait previously described mostly in older children and adults. Researchers in the project also found that infants who later receive an autism diagnosis can show stronger pupil reactions to light shifts and everyday, non-social sounds. Taken together, these results suggest that biological differences in attention and sensory processing exist early in life.
“Several of our findings relate to how the brain responds early on to quite basic physical input from the environment, such as visual and auditory stimuli. This gives us clues about mechanisms that may influence children’s continued development,” says Terje Falck-Ytter.
The research encompasses both autism and ADHD, with ongoing analyses tracking development linked to ADHD throughout the long-term follow-up.
How Stable Are Early Diagnoses Over Time?
A donation of SEK 10 million spread over five years from the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation now enables researchers to follow participants up to ten years of age. This extension permits scientists to measure how consistent early diagnoses remain and whether some children shift their developmental paths during childhood.
“One major question is whether there may be subgroups among children with autism, for example children who develop symptoms later in childhood. This is one of the things we can now investigate,” says Terje Falck-Ytter.
The funding also creates opportunities to design AI-based tools that predict diagnoses at age ten using clinical data gathered at age three. In addition, researchers can evaluate whether early measures from infancy – including brain activity, eye movements, and behavior – are tied to later growth outcomes.
