Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) use emergency department services four times as often as their peers without autism, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.
Researchers at SUNY Downstate recently discovered that an inhibitory brain receptor triggers synaptic pruning in adolescence. Drugs that selectively target these receptors, when administered during adolescence, can alter synapse number, with possible implications for the treatment of autism and schizophrenia.
University of Missouri’s Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders already has enrolled 2,500 individuals with autism and their family members in the Simons Foundation Powering Autism Research for Knowledge (SPARK) project, the nation’s largest autism study, but researchers are continuing to search for more participants.
In two recent studies, researchers at UC Davis have shown that placental tissue can provide critical information about the epigenetic landscape that influences fetal development.
Two Kennesaw State University scientists have received a total of $737,364 in National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health grants for developmental biology research into autism and birth defects.
Chicagoland families and providers with children on the autism spectrum are invited to enroll in a groundbreaking social skills study. The Autism Center at Rush University Medical Center is actively recruiting children ages 8-11 with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to participate in a study evaluating how behavioral therapy and the hormone oxytocin can enhance social thinking skills.
For the first time, researchers have identified before age one which high-risk infants are likely to develop autism. The multicenter study focused on infants who have older siblings with autism spectrum disorder. If replicated, the findings, based on brain MRIs, could set the stage for earlier treatments and better long-term outcomes for these children.
Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in infants with older siblings with autism, researchers from around the country were able to correctly predict 80 percent of those infants who would later meet criteria for autism at two years of age.
By using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study the brains of infants who have older siblings with autism, scientists were able to correctly identify 80 percent of the babies who would be subsequently diagnosed with autism at 2 years of age.
A longitudinal study of children with Fragile X Syndrome, the leading genetic cause of autism, and their mothers found that sustained maternal responsivity had a significant positive impact on the children's development, even mitigating declines often reported in middle childhood.
Boston Children’s Hospital researchers have uncovered a new molecular pathway that inhibits the myelination of neurons in the brains of patients with the rare genetic disorder tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). The study, “Neuronal CTGF/CCN2 negatively regulates myelination in a mouse model of tuberous sclerosis complex,” which will be published online February 9 in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, suggests new ways to treat some of the neurological symptoms associated with TSC, including autism and epilepsy.
A federal law aimed at requiring equal insurance benefits for both physical and mental health care has increased the use of services by children with autism spectrum disorder without increasing the out-of-pocket costs to their families, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-led research suggests.
Medicaid waivers that improve access to home and community-based services for children with autism also help their parents keep their jobs, according to research from Penn State College of Medicine and collaborators.
Doctor visits can be a challenge for patients with autism, their families and health care providers. Kristin Sohl, associate professor of child health at the University of Missouri, offers several steps providers and families can take to make medical visits more successful. She says that all of them require good communication between the provider and parent before, during and after medical visits.
The Child Health Institute of New Jersey has been awarded a $5 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which will expand and enhance its core mission to improve children’s health through the scientific study of pediatric illnesses, including asthma, type 1 diabetes and autism.
Adults on the autism spectrum see their interests as possible fields of study and career paths, as well as ways to mitigate anxiety, finds a study by NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is giving researchers a first look at the early stages of brain development in patients with Fragile X syndrome, a disorder that causes mild to severe intellectual disability and is the most common genetic cause of autism spectrum disorder.
Researchers have uncovered 30 genes that could, one day, serve as therapeutic targets to reverse Rett syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that affects only girls and is a severe form of an autism spectrum disorder.
For many families, normal activities, such as going to a large family gathering or an amusement park, can be difficult to navigate with a child with autism, as the child may be act out due to being overwhelmed by extra noises and stimulation. To help families deal with such situations, specialists at the University of Missouri Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders have been successfully integrating applied behavior analysis (ABA), the science of understanding why people behave in various ways and how understanding those motivations can shape behavior.
The latest study released by the Institute for Autism Research (IAR) shows more promise that a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder no longer guarantees a difficult life for children.
Children with autism may benefit from fecal transplants – a method of introducing donated healthy microbes into people with gastrointestinal disease to rebalance the gut. Behavioral symptoms of autism and gastrointestinal distress often go hand-in-hand, and both improved when a small group of children with the disorder underwent fecal transplant and subsequent treatment.
This research stems from one of the largest studies on young children with ASD as they transition into school. Lead researcher Jan Blacher is available for interviews about parent-student relationships, emotional and behavioral challenges, and parental involvement during this time.
One in 68 American children lives with autism spectrum disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of these children also have significant gastrointestinal issues, but the cause of these symptoms is unknown. Now, researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine suggest that the gastrointestinal issues in these individuals with autism may be related to an increased reaction to stress. It’s a finding the researchers hope could lead to better treatment options for these patients.
Chicagoland families affected by autism can participate in the nation’s largest study to uncover genetic links to the condition by attending an on-site registration and data collection event in the western suburbs, Saturday, January 14.
According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in 45 children is diagnosed with autism. As these children age, experiences such as leaving school, finding jobs and living alone can be stressful for adolescents with autism as well as their caregivers. Researchers from the University of Missouri have conducted the first study analyzing the perspectives of adolescents with autism to identify challenges as they “age out” of services. The researchers say these findings highlight the need for social workers and providers to assist children with autism as they transition to adulthood.
Results of a new community-based randomized clinical trial conducted by researchers at the Institute for Autism Research (iar) at Canisius College found summerMAX, a comprehensive psychosocial summer treatment, improved the social performance and ASD symptoms of children with HFASD.
Genes known to be essential to life—the ones humans need to survive and thrive in the womb—also play a critical role in the development of autism spectrum disorder, suggests a new study
UCLA scientists provides further evidence that the brains of people with autism, despite different causes, tend to have the same molecular “signature.”
Indiana University psychologists have shown that a baby's most likely first words are based upon their visual experience, laying the foundation for a new theory of infant language learning. The study appears in the journal of the Royal Society Philosophical Transactions B.
Families with a loved one on the autism spectrum now have an opportunity to participate in a landmark study researching the genetics of autism. The national study is the largest autism research project to date.
Aer Lingus and the Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support at Saint Joseph’s University have partnered to develop a visual guide that helps individuals with autism and related disorders prepare for and experience air travel.
Matthew Colonnese, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology and physiology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, published a paper in the Journal of Neuroscience establishing a mouse model for human fetal electrographic development.
The human eye often falls short in the hunt for faint genetic drivers that raise the risk of devastating neurological diseases such as autism and schizophrenia. But little eludes a microscope optic attached to a computer, and algorythms that can relate previously hidden phenotypes to subtle genetic mutations. The computational screening developed by Georgia Tech researchers has the potential to reveal webs of genetic dangers that produce disease risk by compounding tiny traits that, when take alone, may appear trivial and harmless.
For most of his life, Kevin Hughes has felt like an outsider. A loner as a child, the 65-year-old comedian struggled socially as a teenager and lacked friends as an adult, often offending people without knowing why. That changed one night when a physician told him he had autism after one of his comedy shows sending him on a painful three-year journey of self-diagnosis experienced by millions of Americans with ASD
A new study in rats could begin to explain why allergies during pregnancy are linked to higher risks for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism in children.
A subtle change occurred in our evolutionary history 100,000 years ago which allowed people who thought and behaved differently - such as individuals with autism - to be integrated into society, academics from the University of York have concluded.
Parents of children with autism under the age of six are invited to participate in a new study designed to evaluate “Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children.”
Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered that mutations in PTEN affect the assembly of connections between two brain areas important for the processing of social cues: the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with complex cognitive processes such as moderating social behavior, and the amygdala, which plays a role in emotional processing.
Early detection of autism can dramatically improve the benefits of treatment, but often the disability is not suspected until a child enters school. A new smartphone app being developed by a University at Buffalo undergraduate and her advisor could change that by giving parents a reliable, easy-to-use tool for at home use to determine if there is a need for clinical examination.
An Indiana University physicist and neuroscientist who studies how physical movement can be used to detect autism in children and adults has received support from the National Science Foundation. The $750,000 NSF grant to IU scientist Jorge V. José and collaborators will be used to apply analytical methods pioneered at IU and Rutgers University toward diagnosing, and possibly treating, a wider range of learning disabilities.
Cornell University researchers have confirmed a genetic link between mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is passed on from the mother, and some forms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Pediatric researchers report that children with ASD may mistakenly be diagnosed with ADHD because they have autism-related social impairments rather than problems with attention. This is important for understanding what are the right services and treatments for a child.
Research by a Texas Tech University behavioral analyst who works with therapy dogs suggests using canines as a reward for completed tasks could be useful.
Scientists, led by a team of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, have linked mutations in a single gene to autism in people who have a rare tumor syndrome typically diagnosed in childhood. The findings, in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), may lead to a better understanding of the genetic roots of autism in the wider population.