A part of the brain that controls how people interpret facial expressions and other behaviors is larger in children who have autism than those who don’t, according to new research.

The study looked at brain scans of children with and without autism and found that an area of the brain called the amygdala is 13 percent bigger on average among those with autism. The researchers who conducted the study at the University of North Carolina believe that children with autism are born with a normal size amygdala, but that some time in the first year of life that area of the brain grows.

The findings, documented this week in the Archives of General Psychiatry, could help identify autism at younger ages, which is a key to accessing early intervention, reports CNN. To read more click here.

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