Autism News and Research

Latest Autism News and Research

Scientists find protein that controls DNA organization during sperm development

Infertility is generally thought of as a woman's problem. In fact, more than 3 million men across America also experience it.

13 May 2014

Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation gift $4 million to support UCLA research

Two new gifts from The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation to UCLA totaling $4 million will fund research in stem cell science and digestive diseases and support the recruitment of key faculty at two renowned research centers.

9 May 2014

Children with autism experience deficits in immune cell that protects against infection

Children with autism experience deficits in a type of immune cell that protects the body from infection. Called granulocytes, the cells exhibit one-third the capacity to fight infection and protect the body from invasion compared with the same cells in children who are developing normally.

9 May 2014

Children's Hospital Los Angeles receives $3M from Simms/Mann Family Foundation

The Simms/Mann Family Foundation has made a $3 million gift to Children's Hospital Los Angeles to fund an endowed chair for the director of the Developmental Neurogenetics program within CHLA's Institute for the Developing Mind.

8 May 2014

New simulation training program helps adults with autism improve job interview skills

Adults with an autism spectrum disorder, who may have trouble talking about themselves and interacting socially, don't always make good impressions in job interviews and have low employment rates.

8 May 2014

Two young neuroscientists win CAN Young Investigator Awards for 2014

The Canadian Association for Neuroscience is proud to announce that Dr. Stephanie Borgland, from the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at University of Calgary, and Dr. Brian Chen, from the Centre for Research in Neuroscience at McGill University, are both winners of CAN Young Investigator Awards for 2014.

8 May 2014

Regression occurs more often in black and Hispanic children compared to whites

Some children with autism appear to be developing normally when they are very young. They babble or even talk, make eye contact with their parents, and crawl and walk on schedule. Then suddenly, these skills seem to vanish.

7 May 2014

Family-based CBT benefits young children with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

A new study from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center has found that family-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is beneficial to young children between the ages of five and eight with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

6 May 2014

Calgary researcher receives $130,000 grant to develop clinical decision tools to aid epilepsy research

A researcher from the University of Calgary is receiving $130,000 to develop clinical decision tools to aid a physician's understanding of how a patient will respond to different treatments.

6 May 2014

Environmental factors equally as important as genes in understanding causes of autism

Environmental factors are more important than previously thought in understanding the causes of autism, and equally as important as genes, according to the largest study to date to look at how autism runs in families.

5 May 2014

Viewpoints: Learning from enrollment numbers; health costs soaring; value of vaccinations

Admit it: After seven months of full-blown hysteria, you're finding it hard to stay interested in how many people sign up for Obamacare. We've known for some time that whatever existential threats the Affordable Care Act faces, low enrollment is no longer one of them.

5 May 2014

Research on different pediatric topics to be presented at Vancouver meeting

Research on bullying, firearms, ADHD, safe sleep, obesity, autism, vaccine hesitancy and other pediatric topics will be presented in Vancouver, British Columbia, May 3-6 at the Pediatric Academic Societies and Asian Society for Pediatric Research 2014 Joint Meeting, the largest international meeting focused on research in child health.

30 Apr 2014

Biden swings at Ryan budget, House GOP hits back

Vice President Joe Biden warned that the plan drafted by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., would hurt Medicare and Medicaid, while a Republican spokesman criticized Biden for his support of a blueprint that leaves the health law in place.

30 Apr 2014

Children with ASD more likely to experience general gastrointestinal complaints

A new study conducted by researchers at Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University School of Medicine indicates that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more than four times more likely to experience general gastrointestinal (GI) complaints compared with peers, are more than three times as prone to experience constipation and diarrhea than peers, and complain twice as much about abdominal pain compared to peers.

29 Apr 2014

Astrocytes malfunction may contribute to neurodegenerative disorders

Scientists studying brain diseases may need to look beyond nerve cells and start paying attention to the star-shaped cells known as "astrocytes," because they play specialized roles in the development and maintenance of nerve circuits and may contribute to a wide range of disorders, according to a new study by UC San Francisco researchers.

29 Apr 2014

Viewpoints: Boehner's 'truthful gaffe' on health law; Larry Kramer's AIDS crusade; costly drugs

Although "repeal and replace" has been the Republican position on Obamacare since 2010, "replace" has been there mainly because it polled well. Republicans were satisfied with the health-care status quo in 2009, and would have been glad to repeal Obamacare to return to it. As Steve Benen points out, Republicans voted for just-plain-repeal many times.

29 Apr 2014

Life stressors may activate neurological disorders

When mothers are exposed to trauma, illness, alcohol or other drug abuse, these stressors may activate a single molecular trigger in brain cells that can go awry and activate conditions such as schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder and some forms of autism.

26 Apr 2014

Researchers identify genetic factors that contribute to ADHD in humans

The 60 trillion cells that comprise our bodies communicate constantly. Information travels when chemical compounds released by some cells are received by receptors in the membrane of another cell.

26 Apr 2014

Research findings can impact lives of people with autism today

A new study from investigators with the Autism Genome Project, the world's largest research project on identifying genes associated with risk for autism, has found that the comprehensive use of copy number variant (CNV) genetic testing offers an important tool in individualized diagnosis and treatment of autism.

25 Apr 2014

Researcher finds relationship between motor skill deficiencies and severity of autism

An Oregon State University researcher has found a relationship between motor skill deficiencies and the severity of the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder in very young children.

25 Apr 2014