Developmental Disorder News and Research

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Link between increased white matter and poor motor skills in children with autism

A study published in the August issue of the journal Brain demonstrates, for the first time, an association between increased white matter volume and functional impairment in children with autism.

1 Aug 2007

New model for understanding how autism is acquired

A new model for understanding how autism is acquired has been developed by a team of researchers led by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

25 Jul 2007

Training autistic brains to recognize visual and vocal cues

To understand the meaning of a conversation, kids automatically do what adults do - besides processing the meaning of words, they unconsciously "read" the expression on a person's face and listen to their tone of voice, then integrate that information with the context at hand to discern meaning, be it humor, anger, irony or straightforwardness.

28 Jun 2007

Goltz syndrome gene found

Researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health have identified the gene that accounts for most cases of Goltz syndrome, a rare skin disorder that can also affect bone and eye development.

23 Jun 2007

Autistic boys have high levels of growth hormones

Boys with autism and autism spectrum disorder had higher levels of hormones involved with growth in comparison to boys who do not have autism, reported researchers from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Cincinnati Children's Hospital and the University Of Cincinnati College Of Medicine.

22 Jun 2007

Genetic component to autism

Using an innovative statistical approach, a research team from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of California, Los Angeles, has identified two regions of DNA linked to autism.

10 May 2007

Latest research findings on autism to be discussed in Seattle

More than 900 scientists, parents and activists from around the world who are focused on understanding the causes of autism and finding treatments for the developmental disorder will gather in Seattle May 3-5 to share the latest research findings at the sixth annual International Meeting for Autism Research.

26 Apr 2007

Non-coplanar PCBs and related chemicals warrant serious attention for health reasons

Scientists have determined that a specific class of PCB causes significant developmental abnormalities in rat pups whose mothers were exposed to the toxicant in their food during pregnancy and during the early weeks when the pups were nursing.

24 Apr 2007

Emerging genetic research may help scientists recognize children with autism at a younger age

Children and adults with autism, a chronic developmental disorder, have difficulty with social and language skills and often display repetitive behaviors, according to background information in the articles.

4 Apr 2007

Vaccines again linked to form of autism

New findings presented yesterday at a National Autism Association meeting bolster claims that vaccines may play a role in the development of autism spectrum disorders.

8 Mar 2007

Scans reveal differences in autistic brains

Researchers at the University of Washington's Autism Center have found new evidence that some regions in the brains of people with the developmental disorder autism may not communicate with each other as efficiently as they do in other people.

17 Oct 2006

Different genes may be responsible for causing autism in boys than in girls

Like detectives trying to solve a murder case, researchers searching for the biological cause of autism have come up with some surprising suspects.

2 Aug 2006

Early marker for autism found in the placenta

A team from Yale School of Medicine have found an abnormality in the placenta which could be the first indication of autism and they believe the discovery could lead to a diagnosis of the condition at birth, rather than the standard age of two or older.

27 Jun 2006

Most children diagnosed with autism at age 2 years appear to have the condition at 9 years

About three-fourths of children who are diagnosed with autism at age 2 years appear to have the condition at age 9 years, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

9 Jun 2006

Researchers pinpoint autism's genetic roots

By deleting a gene in certain parts of the brain, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have created mice that show deficits in social interaction that are reminiscent of humans with autism spectrum disorders.

3 May 2006

Special education data provide misleading trends of changing autism prevalence

If statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Education are to be believed, in 1992 the state of Illinois had only 322 diagnosed cases of autism among school children. In 2003, according to the same statistical source, Illinois had more than 6,000 children diagnosed as autistic.

3 Apr 2006

Enhanced cognitive control in young people with Tourette's syndrome

Though the repetitive vocal and motor tics characteristic of Tourette's syndrome may suggest an inability to control involuntary actions at the cognitive level, researchers have now found evidence that young people with Tourette's syndrome actually exhibit a greater level of cognitive control over their movements than their non-affected peers do.

20 Mar 2006

Scientists more likely to have autistic children

According to an expert in the UK, highly analytical couples such as scientists, engineers, physicists and mathematicians, are more likely to produce children with autism.

31 Jan 2006

Lazy eye might see bright future

Amblyopia, commonly known as lazy eye, is a developmental disorder of spatial vision in the absence of any detectable structural or pathologic abnormalities that cannot be corrected by refractive means. Prevalence estimates range from 1% to 5% depending on the population studied and the definition used.

10 Jan 2006

Brain enlargement may indicate autism

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has found evidence of brain enlargement in a relatively large sample of children with autism, compared with children who do not have the disorder, according to a study in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

13 Dec 2005