Feature Channels: Autism

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Researchers at The Ohio State University have pinpointed the area of the brain responsible for recognizing human facial expressions.

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The Hartwell Foundation, a Memphis-based philanthropic institution committed to funding innovative biomedical pediatrics research, has named Case Western Reserve University among its national Top 10 Centers of Biomedical Research.

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Mount Sinai experts are available during April's Autism Awareness month to offer tips on early detection and treatment

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Two autism experts from the UC Davis MIND Institute are available for interviews during Autism Awareness Month

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A group of University of Iowa researchers has shown that although patients who have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a higher burden of mutations in cancer-promoting oncogenes, they actually have lower rates of cancer.

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UM College of Arts & Sciences psychology researchers find that dopamine genes could shine a light on early communication.

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About one in 68 children in the United States has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Their parents consistently report greater stress levels, caregiving burden and depression than parents of typically developing children. Chronic caregiving stress has also been associated with poorer physical health — more pain, more disruptions from physical-health problems and lower overall health-related quality of life. One powerful way to reduce their stress: social support.

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The first study to use eye-tracker technology to monitor eye movement of children with autism spectrum disorder shows that children with the developmental disorder fixate longer on a speaker’s mouth rather than the eyes when the conversation turns emotional.

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Even though autism diagnoses were first introduced over 75 years ago, many people still associate the condition with young children. But autism is aging. Experts estimate that approximately 50,000 individuals with autism enter adulthood each year. And with their entrance to adulthood, they lose access to many services they’ve come to rely on for support.

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Professor Chung-Hyuk Park at GW’s School of Engineering and Applied Science is using a robot to help kids with autism learn how to navigate difficult social situations. The basis of the research by Dr. Park is that kids with autism tend to bond with computers more easily than humans, so we can use this knowledge to help them learn how to regulate their emotions. The robot encounters situations that kids with autism may have trouble handling, like loud music, bright lights or strong smells. The robot then tries to communicate what it needs to be more comfortable, such as asking someone to turn down the music, shut off the lights or move the pungent flowers to the other side of the room. The hope is that kids with autism will mimic the robot's behaviors, helping them to manage a social situation rather than struggle to communicate the problem.

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Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health contributed to a new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that finds the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) largely unchanged from two years ago, at one in 68 children (or 1.46 percent).

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Scientists at the UNC School of Medicine have found a class of commonly used fungicides that produce gene expression changes similar to those in people with autism and neurodegenerative conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington’s disease.

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Scientists may learn a lot about autism from studying a group of people who don’t have the disorder. Joanne Ruthsatz,is one of the first researchers to have uncovered the link between prodigy and autism.

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The types of gene mutations that contribute to autism are more diverse than previously thought, report researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in the March 24 online issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics. The findings, they say, represent a significant advance in efforts to unravel the genetic basis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

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April is Autism Awareness Month, an opportunity to promote autism awareness and acceptance for the tens of thousands who are facing an autism diagnosis. With one in 68 children living with autism in the U.S., the need for awareness and research is significant. Stephen Kanne, assistant professor and executive director of the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the University of Missouri says early detection and ongoing research are key in helping those living with autism.

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Evidence is mounting that a gene called PTCHD1 helps the brain sort between important sights and sounds — and distractions.

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The FDA has proposed to change the way it regulates the devices that doctors use to deliver ECT treatment for mental illness. Public commenting ends 3/28. A top ECT physician explains why the current proposal could lead to reduced access to potentially life-saving treatment.

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The second annual Autism Conference & Expo of Georgia, showcasing the 10 focus areas of the Autism Plan for Georgia, will take place Thursday, April 14 and Friday, April 15 at the Wyndham Peachtree Hotel and Conference Center.

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About half of children born with Jacobsen syndrome, a rare inherited disease, experience social and behavioral issues consistent with autism spectrum disorders. Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and collaborators developed a mouse model of the disease that also exhibits autism-like social behaviors and used it to unravel the molecular mechanism that connects the genetic defects inherited in Jacobsen syndrome to effects on brain function.

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In a new study published today in the journal Neuron, scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) are the first to sequence the complete genomes of individual neurons and to produce live mice carrying neuronal genomes in all of their cells.

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A University of Wisconsin-Madison spinoff is screening blood samples in an effort to develop a biologically based method to diagnose autism. The company, Stemina Biomarker Discovery, specializes in detecting the byproducts of cellular activity and then applying high-powered statistics to detect patterns among thousands of metabolites.

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According to the CDC, approximately one in 68 children is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) each year. These children have difficulties with social communication and social interaction and require specific interventions in terms of education and health care. The Training Experts in Autism for Missouri (TEAM) program run by Jena Randolph and Karen O’Connor, assistant research professors in the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the University of Missouri, is making significant strides to implement quality training for educators and health professionals working with children with autism across Missouri.

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Children with autism have no unique pattern of abnormal results on endoscopy or other tests for gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, compared to non-autistic children with GI symptoms, reports a study in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (JPGN), official journal of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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New research from the University of Missouri has found associations between trouble sleeping and behavioral problems in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

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In a new study, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute, working in collaboration with scientists from the University of California, Irvine, show that a specific microRNA has strong links to a number of neuropsychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorder

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Infant girls at risk for autism pay more attention to social cues in faces than infant boys, according to a Yale School of Medicine study — the first one known to prospectively examine sex-related social differences in at-risk infants.

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Kevin Pelphrey will begin his new role April 1.

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An estimated 1 in 68 children in the United States has autism. The neurodevelopmental disorder, which impairs communication and social interaction skills, can be treated with medications and behavioral therapies, though there is no cure. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found that a medication commonly used to treat high blood pressure and irregular heartbeats may have the potential to improve some social functions of individuals with autism.

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Scientists show they can use electronic medical records and birth information to verify and strengthen an already suspected link between autistic children and pregnant mothers with obesity and diabetes.

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Children born to obese women with diabetes are more than four times as likely to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder than children of healthy weight mothers without diabetes, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.

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When University of Kentucky Professor Samson Cheung's son was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, he revamped his research focus to meet the challenge. Now, he's inventing new technologies to aid children, therapists and teachers.

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A new study published in the online journal, Public Library of Science One (PLOS One), led by Richard Deth, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology at Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) College of Pharmacy, found that Vitamin B12 levels in the brain are significantly decreased in the elderly and are much lower in individuals with autism or schizophrenia, as compared to their peers at similar ages.

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Xavier has big brown eyes and freckles to match. He is a take-charge kid with sandy blonde hair and boundless energy. Xavier is also on the autism spectrum, diagnosed when he was 3½. Today, Xavier is visiting UW-Madison, where Brittany Travers is studying kids with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to learn more about how helping kids improve their motor skills may have a positive impact on their symptoms.

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Gonzaga Exceptional Hockey, launched by Gonzaga University special education Professor Mark Derby in 2008 to help youth overcome learning and communications difficulties, has caught the attention of the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League.

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Penn State scientists have discovered a novel drug target and have rescued functional deficits in human nerve cells derived from patients with Rett Syndrome, a severe form of autism-spectrum disorder.

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As the number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders continues to rise, medical professionals have emphasized early diagnosis, intervention and treatment. However, less attention has been given to children with autism once they reach their teen years and adulthood. Now, one University of Missouri researcher is working to find ways to support teens with autism and their caregivers so the teens can transition into adulthood successfully and independently.

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As the number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders continues to rise, medical professionals have emphasized early diagnosis, intervention and treatment. However, less attention has been given to children with autism once they reach their teen years and adulthood. Now, one University of Missouri researcher is working to find ways to support teens with autism and their caregivers so the teens can transition into adulthood successfully and independently.

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In a discovery that could offer valuable new insights into understanding, diagnosing and even treating autism, Harvard scientists for the first time have linked a specific neurotransmitter in the brain with autistic behavior.

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Evidence of autism may be found in the composition and malfunction of the brain’s blood vessels, a team of scientists has found. Their research sheds new light on the causes of autism, which previously had pointed to neurological make-up rather than to the vascular system, and identifies a new target for potential therapeutic intervention.

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In a world first, clinical researchers from the Universities of Manchester and Liverpool have collaborated with colleagues in south Asia to adapt a parent-led autism therapy and successfully tested it in India and Pakistan, with the aim of improving treatment for an estimated 5 million children in the region with the disorder.

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Using antidepressants during pregnancy greatly increases the risk of autism, Professor Anick Bérard of the University of Montreal and its affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine children’s hospital revealed today

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Further underscoring the prenatal origins of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine describe for the first time how abnormal gene activity in cell cycle networks that are known to control brain cell production may underlie abnormal early brain growth in the disorder.

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A new drug developed by scientists at Saint Louis University increases the expression of key genes linked to autism.