Neuroscience experts unlock mystery of autism-related anxiety 

It is also inspired by something a whole lot less tangible but equally important. "This research gives families hope," said Duerden, a professor in Western's Faculty of Education and head of the Developing Brain Lab , built to study cognitive development in infants and children through behavioural assessments and brain imaging. Specifically, Duerden and her team are taking a novel approach to a thorny problem: why anxiety is prevalent among people with neurodevelopmental disorders, and how neuroscience can help decode autism's many puzzles. "Autism is a complex, brain-based disorder - not a behavioural disorder as people used to believe - and the diagnosis can be life-changing for families and leave them with a lot of questions," she said.  "Are there treatments? How will they do at school? Will they make friends? Can they have a job when they're older?" said Duerden, listing just a few of the issues people worry about. "The parents and children we work with are some of the most resilient people you'll ever meet. Their energy and their passion are what drives us to want to provide answers." Targeted interventions For Duerden and her team, some of those answers can be decoded from a closer look at the structure and function of the brain itself. For that, she works with an extensive, interdisciplinary network of researchers; state-of-the-art brain-scanning technology that includes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional MRI at the Centre for Functional and Metabolic Imaging, Canada's only collection of high-field and ultra-high-field magnetic resonance systems; and complementary facilities at Robarts Research Institute that support patients and researchers alike.