Carrying single DNA letter changes from two different genes together may increase the risk of developing schizophrenia, Johns Hopkins researchers reported in the November 16 issue of Neuron.
TIME magazine has named Penn Nursing's pioneering research on autism and low birthweight one of the "Top 10 New Findings in Parenting" of 2011. In October, Penn Nursing Professor Jennifer Pinto-Martin, PhD, MPH, and colleagues reported in Pediatrics that premature infants are five times more likely to have autism than children born at normal weight.
A professor has found that children recognize and understand sarcastic comments better when the comments that are used are conventional. Her findings could help children recognize and understand sarcasm better, as well as help better convey social meanings to children with language impairment or who are on the autism spectrum.
The relative risk of autism spectrum disorder in children of mothers on valproate monotherapy was found to be 2.6 times that of children not exposed to antiepileptic medication in utero. The risk of childhood autism was almost five-fold increased compared to children without prenatal exposure to valproate.
Investigators at Children’s Memorial Hospital, Chicago, evaluated the potential of giving screening questionnaires to parents of pediatric epilepsy patients seen in an epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) and a ketogenic diet clinic. More than 75% of the children screened positive for developmental delay, 41% of them with autism. Although many of the cases had been previously diagnosed, more than one-third of the children did not have a prior DD or autism diagnosis and were referred for further confirmatory evaluation.
Epilepsy is common in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A new study indicates their epilepsy is surprisingly photosensitive as well. Since photosensitive epilepsies can be triggered by flickering lights, the self-stimulatory behavior of ASD children, such as hand flapping in front of the face, has the potential to dramatically increase the risk of inducing photosensitive seizures.
Hanging out with friends after school and on the weekends is a vital part of a teen’s social life. But for adolescents with autism spectrum disorders, social activity outside of school is a rarity, finds a new study by Paul Shattuck, PhD, autism expert and assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. He says that limited peer relationships can be detrimental to health and that promoting group activities is key for teens with ASDs.
To diagnose autism spectrum disorders, clinicians typically administer a variety of tests or scales and use information from observations and parent interviews to classify individuals into subcategories listed in standard psychiatric diagnostic manuals. This process of forming "best-estimate clinical diagnoses" has long been considered the gold standard, but a new study demonstrates that these diagnoses are widely variable across centers, suggesting that this may not be the best method for making diagnoses.
A study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego Autism Center of Excellence shows that brain overgrowth in boys with autism involves an abnormal, excess number of neurons in areas of the brain associated with social, communication and cognitive development.
In a small, preliminary study that included 13 male children, those with autism had an average 67 percent more prefrontal brain neurons and larger than average brain weight, than children without autism, according to a study in the Nov. 9 issue of JAMA.
In a study conducted at 12 university-based research sites, there was wide variation in how best-estimate clinical diagnoses within the autism spectrum were assigned to individual children, according to a study being published Online First by the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Neurons in the prefrontal cortex of individuals with autism show changes at numerous sites across the genome, according to a study being published Online First by the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
A study by researchers at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and UCSF shows that rats given a popularly prescribed antidepressant during development exhibit brain abnormalities and behaviors characteristic of autism spectrum disorders.
For the first time, UCLA researchers have shown that the connections between brain regions that are important for language and social skills grow much more slowly in boys with autism than in non-autistic children.
Autism researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing have found a link between low birthweight and children diagnosed with autism, reporting premature infants are five times more likely to have autism than children born at normal weights.
CLA scientists have created a mouse model for autism that opens a window into the biological mechanisms that underlie the disease and offers a promising way to test new treatment approaches.
New research from the University of Utah in collaboration with the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) shows that the presence or absence of intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is not related to household income.
Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, in collaboration with Seaside Therapeutics in Cambridge, Mass., have achieved a milestone in the development of a potential new treatment for fragile X syndrome, the most common genetic cause of autism.
The first transgenic mouse model of a rare and severe type of autism called Timothy Syndrome is improving the scientific understanding of autism spectrum disorder in general and may help researchers design more targeted interventions and treatments.
The research is described in a paper published last week by scientists at the University at Buffalo and Stanford University in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Nearly half of adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) used a mental health service in the past year to address issues such as behavioral problems, anxiety and depression. A new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis reinforces how important school-based services are for this group. The study found 49 percent received the service at schools, and that African-American adolescents and youths from lower income families were more likely to receive school-based services.
Do you run when you should stay? Are you afraid of all the wrong things? An enzyme deficiency might be to blame, reveals new research in mice by scientists at the University of Southern California.
Weizmann Institute scientists find that the brains of autistic toddlers reveal significantly weaker synchronization between areas tied to language and communication; this could serve as a biological marker for autism and lead to tools for early diagnosis.
An experimental drug to treat social withdrawal in children and young adults with autism is being studied in a clinical trial at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Institute for Juvenile Research.
In a novel imaging study of sleeping toddlers, scientists at the University of California, San Diego Autism Center of Excellence report that a diminished ability of a young brain’s hemispheres to “sync” with one another could be a powerful, new biological marker of autism, one that might enable an autism diagnosis at a very young age.
In an effort to unravel the tangled biology of autism, Johns Hopkins scientists have created a mouse model that mimics a human mutation of a gene known to be associated with autism spectrum disorders.
Contrary to McMaster researchers' findings, the American Academy of Pediatrics recently recommended that screening for autism be incorporated into routine practice, such as a child’s regular physician check-up, regardless of whether a concern has been raised by the parents. In a study in the online edition of the journal Pediatrics, McMaster researchers say there is “not enough sound evidence to support the implementation of a routine population-based screening program for autism.”
A UCLA study is the first to reveal how autism makes its mark at the molecular level, resulting in an autistic brain that differs dramatically in structure from a healthy one. The findings provide new insight into how genes and proteins go awry in autism to alter the mind.
Dealing with autistic patients has to be significantly different than from traditional styles. These videos offer training to first responders on how to deal with autistic individuals.
American, Canadian, and Korean Research by George Washington University and Yale University Reveals Autism Prevalence May be Higher Than Current Estimates
A study by UNC researchers finds that children with autism who had enlarged brains at age 2 continued to have enlarged brains at ages 4 and 5. However, this increased brain growth did not continue beyond age 2, and the changes detected at age 2 were due to overgrowth prior to that time point.
In England, the prevalence of adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was estimated to be 9.8 per 1,000 population, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Scientists using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) observed that the brains of children with autism spectrum disorder are larger than those without autism, but this difference appears related to increased rates of brain growth before 2 years of age, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
A novel strategy developed by autism researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, called “The One-Year Well-Baby Check Up Approach,” shows promise as a simple way for physicians to detect cases of Autism Syndrome Disorder (ASD), language or developmental delays in babies at an early age.
Seattle Children’s Autism Center today announced the launch of “The Autism Blog,” a new blog for parents and caregivers of children with autism. Authored by physicians, nurses, psychologists and other staff, the blog offers a practitioner’s perspective on topics relevant to parenting a child with autism.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered in mice a molecular wrecking ball that powers the demolition phase of a cycle that occurs at synapses — those specialized connections between nerve cells in the brain — and whose activity appears critical for both limiting and enhancing learning and memory.
The newly revealed protein, which the researchers named thorase after Thor, the Norse god of thunder, belongs to a large family of enzymes that energize not only neurological construction jobs but also deconstruction projects.
With the help of two sets of brothers with autism, Johns Hopkins scientists have identified a gene associated with autism that appears to be linked very specifically to the severity of social interaction deficits. The gene, GRIP1 (glutamate receptor interacting protein 1), is a blueprint for a traffic-directing protein at synapses — those specialized contact points between brain cells across which chemical signals flow.
While there is an increasing equality in terms of the likelihood that children from communities and families across the socioeconomic spectrum will be diagnosed with autism, a new study finds that such factors still influence the chance of an autism diagnosis, though to a much lesser extent than they did at the height of rising prevalence.
Some medical and behavioral treatments may reduce certain behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorders, but more research is needed to assess benefits and harms.
Vanderbilt researchers evaluating existing treatments for children with autism spectrum disorders found although there were positive results in some studies, there is little information to target the right treatments to specific children.
Findings from the three review articles, which examined research conducted between 2000 and May 2010 on children ages 12 and younger, were released today by the journal Pediatrics.
Researchers directed by Dr. Laurent Mottron at the University of Montreal’s Centre for Excellence in Pervasive Development Disorders (CETEDUM) have determined that people with autism concentrate more brain resources in the areas associated with visual detection and identification, and conversely, have less activity in the areas used to plan and control thoughts and actions.
April is Autism Awareness Month. To help reporters develop stories about Autism Spectrum Disorders, the University of South Carolina has compiled a list of faculty experts.
As World Autism Awareness Day, April 2, approaches, scientists at the UNC School of Medicine hunt for new treatments and interventions for the disorder.
No one can argue that autism is getting more attention than it did 10 years ago. But considering that autism is the fastest growing developmental disorder in the United States, research and services for those who need them most struggle to keep up. Add to that all the mixed messages parents and families dealing with a diagnosis receive.
Nova Southeastern University (NSU) and the dietary supplement company Immunotec announced today that they will conduct a new research study to determine the effects of a supplement to improve behaviors in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.