Autism News and Research

Latest Autism News and Research

Mitochondrial dysfunction observed in children with full syndrome autism

Preliminary research has found that children with autism are more likely to have impaired mitochondrial function (structures within cells responsible for energy production) and mitochondrial DNA abnormalities than typically developing children, according to a study in the December 1 issue of JAMA.

1 Dec 2010

May Institute, Borders partner to raise funds for critical services during Benefit Days

May Institute, an award-winning national nonprofit serving children and adults with autism and other special needs, and Borders, a leading specialty retailer of books as well as other educational and entertainment items, are partnering this holiday season to raise funds for critical services during May Institute's Benefit Days at Borders, December 3-5, 2010. Visit May Institute's website to download a voucher with the promotional code for this special fundraising event.

30 Nov 2010

Children with autism improve creative skills by playing with building blocks

In an attempt to help children with autism learn the building blocks of creativity, researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) tapped a toy box staple for help - legos. By building lego structures in new and unique ways, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) learned to use creativity, an important skill that they had seen as very challenging prior to the study.

30 Nov 2010

Texas gives disability oversight to quasi-government authorities; Colorado rural ambulance services face crisis

Texas Tribune: "For years, the state paid private providers who care for people with disabilities to help the clients decide how many services they need and how intensive they should be. But an 11th-hour change state lawmakers inserted into the budget last session stripped the private providers of this case management responsibility, giving it instead to local, quasi-governmental Mental Retardation Authorities, who administer publicly funded services to people with disabilities.

30 Nov 2010

New pediatric therapy centres in Westmount and Pointe Claire

Parents know the joy when their child begins to lift their head, starts to turn over, say their first word and begins to read. For the family of a child who suffers from a developmental delay or disorder what happens after this discovery is not always simple. In many cases seeing a professional can be challenging. Collage Pediatric Therapy launched private pediatric therapy centres in Westmount and Pointe Claire to provide families with this additional resource and means of accessing the expertise and answers they need to be able to intervene at the earliest stage in their child's development.

25 Nov 2010

Study finds gender difference in brain function of schizophrenics

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that differs between the sexes in terms of age at onset, symptomatology, response to medication, and structural brain abnormalities. Now, a new study from the Universit- de Montr-al shows that there is gender difference between men and women's mental ability with women performing better than men.

20 Nov 2010

Ontario Brain Institute initiates new venture to help people with neurological disorders

Ontario took a major step to help the one million people in the province with neurological disorders and the 2.6 million Ontarians who will be affected by a neurological condition in their lifetime.

20 Nov 2010

Scientists identify gene variants associated with eating disorder

Scientists at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have identified both common and rare gene variants associated with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa.

20 Nov 2010

Researchers develop social competence curriculum for autistic children

As the number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders continues to increase, the one thing that won't change is the need for those children to develop social skills. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri are developing an effective social competence curriculum, with a virtual classroom component, that could help educators meet the demand of this growing population.

20 Nov 2010

Neural differences may help explain prevalence of mental disorders in boys

Many mental health disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia, produce changes in social behavior or interactions. The frequency and/or severity of these disorders is substantially greater in boys than girls, but the biological basis for this difference between the two sexes is unknown.

18 Nov 2010

New AAC devices can help patients with neurological conditions to communicate

Though many people suffering from neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy and Lou Gehrig's disease have lost their ability to speak, they can communicate using augmentative and alternative communications (AAC) devices such as keyboards, head sticks, and other hands-free options.

17 Nov 2010

Researchers identify pattern of brain activity that may develop ASD

An autism study by Yale School of Medicine researchers using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has identified a pattern of brain activity that may characterize the genetic vulnerability to developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Published today in the early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study could eventually lead to earlier and more accurate autism diagnosis.

16 Nov 2010

Researchers develop human cell-based model of Rett syndrome

A groundbreaking study published Friday in the leading scientific journal, Cell, revealed that a team of investigators had successfully generated nerve cells using skin cells from four individuals with Rett syndrome. The study, funded in part by IRSF, was led by Dr. Alysson Muotri at the University of California, San Diego--a leading researcher in the stem cell field.

16 Nov 2010

Handwriting problems in autistic children likely to continue into teenage years: Study

A new study suggests that the handwriting problems that affect children with autism are likely to continue into their teenage years.

16 Nov 2010

Researchers find additional work of oxytocin hormone

New human research suggests the chemical oxytocin dubbed the "cuddle hormone" because of its importance in bonding between romantic partners and mothers and children also influences feelings of well-being and sensitivity to advertising.

15 Nov 2010

Aging changes how people view themselves and others through 'mind wandering'

Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center can now show, using functional MRI images, why it is that behavior in children and young adolescents veers toward the egocentric rather than the introspective.

15 Nov 2010

Spontaneous mutations can cause mental retardation

Dutch geneticists affiliated with the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre present as a novel research paradigm that spontaneous mutations are an important cause of mental retardation.

15 Nov 2010

Behavioral intervention helps children to recover from autism: Study

A landmark study proves that children are capable of recovery from autism, or of making substantial gains in cognitive and adaptive functioning, as well as language skills, according to results released last night by Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh, founder of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc. (CARD).

14 Nov 2010

New findings shed light on biology of neuropsychiatric diseases

The biggest surprise to me was that we could rescue the autistic phenotype [in the human cells] to something close to normal, said Alysson Muotri of the University of California San Diego.

12 Nov 2010

Researchers study Rett neurons in a Petri dish

A collaborative effort between researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the University of California, San Diego, successfully used human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells derived from patients with Rett syndrome to replicate autism in the lab and study the molecular pathogenesis of the disease.

12 Nov 2010