This semester, nine exercise science students at Western Illinois University are involved in research that could help show how using technology can be beneficial for individuals with autism when exercising.
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulty recognizing and interpreting how facial expressions convey various emotions – from joy to puzzlement, sadness to anger. This can make it difficult for an individual with ASD to successfully navigate social situations and empathize with others.
For those who suffer from diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s or conditions such as Autism spectrum disorder, any form of non-literal speech such as sarcasm, teasing or ‘white lies’ can be very confusing. A new video inventory of examples of these forms of indirect speech developed at McGill should help in the diagnosis and clinical testing of those with disorders of this kind.
A New Jersey music school helps special needs students achieve more than learning an instrument – opening a world of opportunity
Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center say they have added to evidence that a shell-shaped region in the center of the mammalian brain, known as the thalamic reticular nucleus or TRN, is likely responsible for the ability to routinely and seamlessly multitask.
Researchers find a protein that's involved in helping control the architecture of connections between neurons – a basic process involved in both healthy and diseased brains.
Babies born prematurely face an increased risk of neurological and psychiatric problems that may be due to weakened connections in brain networks linked to attention, communication and the processing of emotions, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine.
Findings reveal a key role of the BET protein family in the regulation of selected genes that control normal development and function of nerve cells
A team of UCLA scientists has found that brain areas linked to social behaviors are both underdeveloped and insufficiently networked in youths with high functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to study participants without ASD.
Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have uncovered a significant—and potentially treatable—relationship between a chemical that helps transmit signals in the brain and genetic mutations present in a subset of individuals with autism spectrum disorder.
Children with autism who participated in a 10-week, 40-hour, theatre-based program showed significant differences in social ability compared to a group of children with autism who did not participate, according to a Vanderbilt study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
By identifying a key signaling defect within a specific membrane structure in all cells, University of California, Irvine researchers believe, they have found both a possible reliable biomarker for diagnosing certain forms of autism and a potential therapeutic target.
Male mice belt out love songs to females during courtship. What scientists didn't know until now is female mice sing back. Using a sophisticated array of microphones and a sound chamber he developed, a University of Delaware researcher discovered the world is full of tiny furry Beyoncés. Studying all the Single Ladies’ communication provides insight into brain mechanics and impairments, potentially including those related to autism.
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Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are not completely understood neurodevelopmental disorders diagnosed solely on the basis of behavioral assessments of social, communicative and repetitive symptoms. Though behaviorally distinctive and reliably identified by experienced clinicians, ASD is clinically and genetically extremely diverse, affecting each patient differently. Efforts to identify subsets of patients with similar outcomes and chances of recurrence has been difficult, said Judith Miles, M.D., P.h.D., a University of Missouri child health physician and researcher specializing in medical genetics, in an invited editorial published Sept.1 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
The use of two newer genetic testing technologies (chromosomal microarray analysis and whole-exome sequencing) among children with autism spectrum disorder may help identify genetic mutations potentially linked to the disorder, according to a study in the September 1 issue of JAMA. The study also found that children with certain physical anomalies were more likely to have genetic mutations, findings that may help identify children who could benefit most from genetic testing.
Using computer vision, signal processing and privacy protection, University of Kentucky doctoral student Nkiruka Uzuegbunam, along with electrical and computer engineering Associate Professor Sen-ching Samson Cheung, have developed "MEBook," a combination of a social narrative and gaming system that psychologists and parents can use as behavioral therapies for autistic children.
Mice lacking a set of receptors in one type of neuron in the brain developed compulsive, anti-social behaviors, Salk scientists found
Psychologists from Cardiff University have developed the first self-assessment test designed to help clinicians diagnose autism in adults.
Last December, researchers identified more than 1,000 gene mutations in individuals with autism, but how these mutations increased risk for autism was unclear. Now, UNC researchers are the first to show how one of these mutations disables a molecular switch in one of these genes to cause autism.
A wealth of programs target autistic kids. But what about when they grow up? UCLA's Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills is the only evidence-based approach to teaching social skills to young adults with autism.
Findings are the first to shed light on the genetic differences between DiGeorge syndrome patients with autism and those with psychosis.
New research indicates that adults born very premature are more likely to be socially withdrawn and display signs of autism.
Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have uncovered how mutations in a specific autism risk gene alter the basic trajectory of early brain development in animal models.
Researchers at the Institute for Autism Research at Canisius College have found that reducing the intensity of their comprehensive summer treatment (summerMAX) yielded improvements for high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) that were comparable to the original high-intensity program.
Studies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques are beginning to reveal differences in brain connectivity—the ways that different parts of the brain are connected to each other and work together—in people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), reports a review in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
Other topics include autism research, biofuel sources, nutrition supplements, and more...
Premature babies are at an increased risk for developing autism spectrum disorder. But a small study indicates that preemies who avoid eye contact in early infancy are less likely to demonstrate symptoms of autism at age 2 than preemies who maintain eye contact during early interactions, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have found that a type of genetic material called “microRNA” plays surprisingly different roles in the formation of memory in animal models. In some cases, these RNAs increase memory, while others decrease it.
Ten weeks of intensive reading intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder was enough to strengthen the activity of loosely connected areas of their brains that work together to comprehend reading, University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers have found.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have launched a clinical trial to investigate the safety and efficacy of an unprecedented drug therapy for autism.
Fragile X syndrome is the most common inherited intellectual disability and the greatest single genetic contributor to autism. Unlocking the mechanisms behind fragile X could make important revelations about the brain. In a new study published June 4 in the journal Cell Reports, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Waisman Center and Department of Neuroscience show that two proteins implicated in fragile X play a crucial role in the proper development of neurons in mice.
Speech, emitted or received, produces an electrical activity in neurons that neuroscientists measure in the form of «cortical oscillations». To understand speech, as for other cognitive or sensory processes, the brain breaks down the information it receives to integrate it and give it a coherent meaning. But researchers could not confirm whether oscillations were signs of neuronal activity, or whether these oscillations played an active role in speech processing. Professor Anne-Lise Giraud and her team at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva (UNIGE) reached such conclusions after having created a computerized model of neuronal microcircuits, which highlights the crucial role of neuronal oscillations to decode spoken language, independently of speakers’ pace or accent.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, a team of UCLA researchers has shown for the first time that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who are overly sensitive to sensory stimuli have brains that react differently than those with the disorder who don’t respond so severely to noises, visual stimulation and physical contact.
Researchers at the Institute for Autism Research at Canisius College have found that functional level appears to play a critical role in the stress levels of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Scientists at the University at Buffalo have identified the mechanisms behind a genetic mutation that produces certain autistic behaviors in mice, as well as therapeutic strategies to restore normal behaviors.
One night of poor sleep significantly decreases performance on intelligence tests in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and also in neurotypical children (without ASD).
Valerie Hu, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, has found an important sex-dependent difference in the level of RORA protein in brain tissues of males and females. Specifically, females without autism have a slightly higher level of RORA in the frontal cortex of the brain than males without autism, while the levels of the protein are comparably lower in the brain of both males and females with autism.
Some children with autism should undergo ongoing screenings for apraxia, a rare neurological speech disorder, because the two conditions often go hand-in-hand, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccines have saved more the 732,000 lives in the past two decades and studies have repeatedly shown that they are the best way to protect our communities from some of the deadliest illnesses. Still, there is a lot of confusing information about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines and it can be difficult to discern fact from fiction.
Investigators will present data from more than 50 studies on topics including adolescent sexual risk, co-locating behavioral health and primary care services, childhood obesity, asthma and autism.
Fragile X syndrome, an inherited cause of autism and intellectual disability, can have consequences even for carriers of the disorder. Researchers have identified a potential target for treatments for these carriers.
Researchers have uncovered the first evidence of a genetic link between prodigy and autism. The scientists found that child prodigies in their sample share some of the same genetic variations with people who have autism.
A new study suggests that doctors may want to focus on parents and not just on their patients when it comes to caring for children with autism spectrum disorder. The study, published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that parents who were taught specific behavior management skills saw a dramatic improvement in their child’s behavior.
In a study that included approximately 95,000 children with older siblings, receipt of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine was not associated with an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), regardless of whether older siblings had ASD, findings that indicate no harmful association between receipt of MMR vaccine and ASD even among children already at higher risk for ASD, according to a study in the April 21 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on child health.
A 24 week parent training program, which provided specific techniques to manage disruptive behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorder, resulted in a greater reduction in disruptive and noncompliant behavior compared to parent education, according to a study in the April 21 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on child health.
Critical questions about life outcomes beyond clinical interventions are the focus of a report issued today from Drexel University’s A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, from its Life Course Outcomes Research Program. The “National Autism Indicators Report: Transition into Young Adulthood” is a comprehensive report (available free online) that presents new findings about a wide range of experiences and outcomes of youth on the autism spectrum between high school and their early 20s, including new safety and risk indicators for young adults with autism. The report describes the indicators now available and serves as a call to action to fill the remaining large gaps in knowledge.
Epilepsy affects nearly 30 percent of all people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurobehavioral condition marked by impaired social and language development. Conversely, many patients with epilepsy display ASD-like behavior. Recent studies suggest that epileptic seizures impair the neural pathways needed for socialization, but the details of this process remain unclear.
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