People with neurodevelopmental disabilities are often not given the tools to create romantic relationships in a meaningful, safe way. This puts them at risk for sexual abuse. A new educational program, tested in partnership with the UC Davis MIND Institute, may help foster healthy, romantic relationships.
The UC Davis MIND Institute’s annual Summer Institute on Neurodevelopmental Disabilities is focused on strategies to support individuals with ADHD, Down syndrome, autism and more as they prepare for life after high school. The free, virtual event will take place Aug. 3 from 9:00 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. and is open to all.
Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS) is a progressive genetic condition that causes movement challenges and cognitive decline. UC Davis MIND Institute researchers have shown, for the first time, how FXTAS can manifest in its earliest stages.
The UC Davis MIND Institute is launching a $4 million research program aimed at finding transformative therapies for ADNP syndrome, a rare genetic condition. A group of interdisciplinary researchers will evaluate multiple gene therapies for possible use.
The UC Davis MIND Institute’s Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities program is recruiting. Self-advocates, family members, researchers and clinicians who are passionate about improving the lives of people with autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities are invited to apply.
The UC Davis MIND Institute has received funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to create community partnerships to increase equity in research. The goal is to create a network that includes individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities from diverse communities.
Researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute have identified a gene linked to fetal brain development and autism. Their work shows that the gene is influenced by the mother’s early prenatal vitamins use and placental oxygen levels.
A long-term study by UC Davis MIND Institute researchers finds significant changes in brain development linked to anxiety in autistic children. The study, which included brain scans and interviews, also provides new evidence that supports forms of anxiety specific to autism.
The MIND Institute’s RISE-UP program is recruiting undergraduate students for its summer program. The unique opportunity is focused on students interested in serving historically underserved communities. They’ll learn more about research, clinical care, community support, neurodevelopmental disabilities and social justice.
A new UC Davis MIND Institute study suggests that parent-led language testing delivered via telehealth is effective for children with autism. The format was tested in both English and Spanish-speaking families and may provide a new way to measure the efficacy of treatments.
UC Davis Health researchers studying executive control in adolescents and young adults with autism have published new research that suggests a unique approach, rather than impairment.
The UC Davis MIND Institute and the National Fragile X Foundation have launched an international registry of people carrying the fragile X premutation. The goal is to facilitate and encourage research about the genetic condition to improve understanding and treatment.
UC Davis MIND Institute researchers used machine learning to crunch 10,000 autoantibody pattern combinations to identify maternal biomarkers associated with a sub-type of autism. The findings have implications for early diagnosis and intervention.
Researchers found that a long-accepted theory about brain size in some children with autism may not be true. In a separate study, they linked development of white matter with changes in autism symptom severity.
A new study by the UC Davis MIND Institute finds a connection between gestational age and ADHD in children with Down syndrome. An earlier gestational age is linked to higher ADHD symptoms later in childhood.
A UC Davis MIND Institute study found that around 30% of young children with autism have less severe autism symptoms at age 6 than they did at age 3, with some losing their autism diagnoses entirely. It also found that girls tend to show greater reduction and less rise in their autism symptom severity than boys with autism. Children with higher IQs were more likely to show a reduction in their symptoms.
Adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and those with typical development show similar proactive cognitive control. However, symptoms of depression in individuals with autism were linked to less proactive control, a UC Davis study found.
Fragile X syndrome is a debilitating genetic neurodevelopmental disorder that affects people worldwide, but many doctors don’t know anything about it, let alone have the resources to properly diagnose or treat it.
Doctors and scientists — experts in the rare and severely disabling fragile X syndrome — had arrived from the United States, including six from the UC Davis MIND Institute. They came to offer the families useful information and maybe open doors to desperately needed help in a region of the world that, until fairly recently, hardly recognized fragile X syndrome, let alone knew how to diagnose or treat it.
behavioral problems than similar age boys with ASD. These challenges are associated with a larger amygdala, a UC Davis Health study has found. The amygdala is a key part of the brain that helps regulate emotions and detects threats.
Memory training game may help people with fragile X and other intellectual disorders.
Researchers at MIND Institute at UC Davis and Rush University Medical Center have found that mavoglurant, an experimental drug known as an mGluR5 negative modulator, can positively modify a key characteristic behavior in individuals with fragile X syndrome (FXS).
Later-born siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at elevated risk for both disorders, a new study led by Meghan Miller, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and at the UC Davis MIND Institute, has concluded. The findings appear today in JAMA Pediatrics.
Researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute and the University of North Carolina have shown for the third time that an increased amount of extra-axial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is associated with the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in young children. The ability to identify ASD children early could improve both treatment and quality of life. The study was published in the journal The Lancet Psychiatry.
Investigators at the UC Davis MIND Institute and NeuroPointDX, a division of Stemina Biomarker Discovery, have identified a group of blood metabolites that could help detect some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Part of the Children’s Autism Metabolome Project (CAMP), the largest metabolomic ASD study ever attempted, these findings are a key step toward developing an ASD biomarker test. The research was published September 6 in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
Can a new mouse model provide essential insights into one type of autism spectrum disorder? UC Davis researchers hope their work yields new therapies for children.
Researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute have found that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have reduced immune system regulation, as well as shifts in their gut microbiota. The immune deregulation appears to facilitate increased inflammation and may be linked to the gastrointestinal issues so often experienced by children with ASD. The research was published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.
In a striking new finding, researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute found that typically-developing children gain more neurons in a region of the brain that governs social and emotional behavior, the amygdala, as they become adults. This phenomenon does not happen in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Instead, children with ASD have too many neurons early on and then appear to lose those neurons as they become adults. The findings were published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Researchers at UC Davis and other institutions have shown that mothers who take recommended amounts of folic acid around conception might reduce their children’s pesticide-related autism risk.
The UC Davis MND Institute has been awarded a 5-year, $12 million Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) grant, one of five in the nation, to create a “Center for the Development of Phenotype-based Treatments of Autism Spectrum Disorder.”
Researchers from the UC Davis MIND Institute, University of North Carolina (UNC) and other institutions have found that altered distribution of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in high-risk infants can predict whether they will develop autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study appears today in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
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.
For the first time, researchers have found higher levels of Gram-negative bacteria antigens in brain samples from late-onset Alzheimer’s disease patients. Compared to controls, patients with Alzheimer's had much higher levels of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and E coli K99 pili protein. In addition, The UC Davis team also found LPS molecules congregated with amyloid plaques, which have been linked to Alzheimer’s pathology and progression. The research was published today in the print edition of the journal Neurology.
Researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute have found that a battery of tests appears to have strong potential for measuring cognitive changes over time for people with intellectual disabilities. The work could open new doors to research into whether drugs and specialized educational programs or treatments can improve function in people with Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome and other causes of intellectual disabilities.
Treatment with sertraline may provide nominal but important improvements in cognition and social participation in very young children with fragile X syndrome, the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability and the leading single-gene cause of autism, a study by researchers with the UC Davis MIND Institute has found.
A UC Davis researcher has created a video game for children who experience cognitive impairments from genetic disorders with the hope that that it will improve their ability to mentally process information about space and time.
To address the deficit of interventions for older children and adolescents with fragile X, MIND Institute researcher Andrea McDuffie and colleagues created an intervention that uses a shared storytelling paradigm and real-time parent coaching, all provided in the home through telecommunications. The small but important study found that the intervention improved adolescent boys’ abilities to produce longer sentences, use more diverse vocabulary and concentrate for longer time periods during conversational interactions.
Two autism experts from the UC Davis MIND Institute are available for interviews during Autism Awareness Month
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