A study, funded in part by Autism Speaks, is among those being discussed this week at Neuroscience 2014, the world’s largest gathering of brain researchers.

Early findings from the ongoing study suggest that Pivotal Response Training (PRT) doesn’t just teach children social-communication skills. It also improves activity in brain regions associated with social behavior. The researchers foresee a day when brain scans may help identify which children will respond most strongly to particular therapies.