According to researchers, a test for autism could be introduced considering the way children sniff different aromas. The research has been done by scientists from Israel. It was found that participants spent more time inhaling the delightful aroma of a bouquet of roses compared to the foul smell of rotting fish.

The children participated in a 10 minute experiment, in which a red tube released either pleasant or unpleasant odours to the nose and the green tube observed changes in patterns of breathing.

According to one of the researchers, PhD student Liron Rozenkrantz, usually children misrepresented the extent of their sniffing to the odors. As per Rosencrantz, this modulation was not observed at all in children having autism.

A computer programme capable of detecting autism in the group of children with 81% accuracy helped the team reach the conclusion.

According to the team at the Weizmann Institute of Science, a sniffing test also has one advantage that it does not depend on what a child says regarding the problem; therefore, it could help deal with autism at a very early age.

According to Rozenkrantz, "But before we can use it as a diagnostic test, we need to know at what age children start to develop a sniff response in the general population. Are you born with it? Do you develop it later in life? No-one has looked at it yet”. Rozenkrantz said things could be started after this interesting finding, but still there is a lot to be done.