Wearable MEG Tracks Brain Development and Autism Links

A recent study published in Imaging Neuroscience explores the use of a novel wearable brain scanner for measuring brain activity. Researchers from the University of Nottingham and SickKids Toronto used a wearable magnetoencephalography (MEG) device to scan the brains of 101 healthy participants, aged 2 to 34 years.

The study revealed age-related changes in brain function, showing a decline in excitatory processes and an increase in inhibitory processes as children mature. These shifts are a key aspect of healthy brain development and offer valuable insights into neurodevelopmental disorders like autism.

Brain function depends on a balance between excitation (the firing of brain cells) and inhibition (the stopping of firing), known as the E-I balance.

Researchers used a wearable magnetoencephalography (MEG) scanner to assess the brain activity of 101 healthy individuals, ranging in age from 2 to 34 years. This allowed them to measure high-frequency brain waves called gamma waves, which are generated by circuits involving both excitatory and inhibitory signals.

The findings showed that gamma waves change significantly with age. Children had low-amplitude broadband waves, while adults had high-amplitude narrowband waves.

By applying biophysical models to these measurements, the researchers were able to determine the excitatory-inhibitory (E-I) balance in the brain. Their results indicate that as children age, excitatory processes decrease while inhibitory processes increase, a critical pattern for healthy brain maturation. This developmental trajectory is notably different in older children and adults with psychiatric disorders, providing a benchmark for understanding conditions like autism.

Psychiatric disorders are often linked to atypical brain function, which can be evaluated using imaging techniques like MRI, EEG, and MEG. However, studying brain function in very young children (ages 2-4), when childhood disorders often first appear, has been challenging due to limitations in existing methods.

The wearable brain scanner used in this study employs quantum technology and optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs), small sensors integrated into a lightweight helmet. This system detects magnetic fields generated by brain activity. Its design allows for use across age groups, including very young children, and it can be set up quickly, enabling free movement during scans. This makes it especially suitable for studying young children.

Professor Matthew Brookes from the University of Nottingham’s Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre led the development of this technology, which is now being applied globally by Cerca Magnetics, a spin-out company based in Nottingham.

Quantum technologies have revolutionized what is possible with brain imaging. 10 years ago, measuring MEG signals in very young children as they move around freely whilst wearing what is essentially a hat seemed like science fiction. Now, it’s possible and it’s opening up new worlds of possibility–particularly related to the developing brain in the early years of life.

Matthew Brookes, Professor,  University of Nottingham

Dr. Margot Taylor, a world-renowned neuroscientist leading autism research at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, commented: “OPM technology allows us to complete studies in young children that were simply not possible otherwise. We are able to obtain fantastic data in one-year-olds; our next frontier is having the same success in infants from birth. We expect that these studies will give us better understanding of the early onset of neurodevelopmental disorders, which will help in the care of the children in the future.”

The lead researcher for this study, Dr. Natalie Rhodes, completed her undergraduate and postgraduate education at the University of Nottingham before moving to Toronto to advance her scientific career.

Just like a well-tuned orchestra, our brains rely on a delicate balance of signals. We now have a way to measure how this balance changes from early life to adulthood and can use this to better understand developmental differences in conditions like autism. We know that an imbalance in brain signals is linked to neurodevelopmental conditions, but until now, we haven't had a suitable method to measure it in young children. Using OPM technology, we can now study brain function with unprecedented precision from very young children.

Dr. Natalie Rhodes, Study Lead Researcher, University of Nottingham

The University of Nottingham established Cerca Magnetics in 2020 to commercialize OPM-MEG scanners and related technologies. This wearable system has been implemented in several leading research institutions worldwide, including SickKids in Toronto, where approximately half of the participants in this study were scanned. The research teams at both institutions are working together to expand the scope and depth of neurodevelopmental data collected from both typically and atypically developing brain populations.

This study was supported by a healthcare impact partnership grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in the UK. The authors also acknowledge the support from the UK quantum technologies program, particularly the Quantum Hub for Sensors Imaging and Timing (QuSIT). Research at SickKids was supported by the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI; 2021) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Journal Reference:

Rhodes, N., et al. (2025) Measuring the neurodevelopmental trajectory of excitatory-inhibitory balance via visual gamma oscillations. Imaging Neuroscience. doi.org/10.1162/imag_a_00527/128456