The hospital was one of the sites that took part in the research. Others included the University of Washington, Washington University in St. Louis, and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. McGill University, the University of Alberta, the University of Minnesota, the College of Charleston, and New York University also collaborated in the efforts.

The study is part of the larger trend in neuroscience research – the search for biomarkers that are present before the disorders become full-blown, “at a time when preventive efforts are possible,” advised Piven, adding, “in Parkinson’s, for instance, we know that once a person is diagnosed, they’ve already lost a substantial portion of the dopamine receptors in their brain, making treatment less effective.”


Although the study is published, the research remains ongoing.

“We are still enrolling families for this study, and we hope to begin work on a similar project to replicate our findings,” said first author Heather Hazlett, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the UNC School of Medicine.

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