Autism News and Research

Latest Autism News and Research

Study: Children with autism have more prefrontal brain neurons

In a small, preliminary study that included 13 male children, those with autism had an average 67 percent more prefrontal brain neurons and larger than average brain weight, than children without autism, according to a study in the Nov. 9 issue of JAMA.

9 Nov 2011

Prenatal processes gone awry linked to children with autism

A study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego Autism Center of Excellence shows that brain overgrowth in boys with autism involves an abnormal, excess number of neurons in areas of the brain associated with social, communication and cognitive development.

9 Nov 2011

Prefrontal cortex neurons from individuals with autism show changes in chromatin structures

Neurons in the prefrontal cortex of individuals with autism show changes at numerous sites across the genome, according to a study being published Online First by the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

8 Nov 2011

Epigenetic alterations may play an important role in autism

Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School are the first to map epigenetic changes in neurons from the brains of individuals with autism, providing empirical evidence that epigenetic alterations-changes in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence-may play an important role in the disease.

8 Nov 2011

Viewpoints: The campaign against birth control; paying for N.Y.'s autism mandate

What if there were a solution to many of the global problems that confront us, from climate change to poverty to civil wars? There is, but it is starved of resources. It's called family planning, and it has been a victim of America's religious wars.

4 Nov 2011

Elsevier's 2012 eBook Frontlist collections available on SciVerse ScienceDirect

Elsevier, the world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, announced today that its 2012 eBook Frontlist collections are available for advance purchase on SciVerse ScienceDirect, Elsevier's online platform for scientific content.

3 Nov 2011

Roundup: N.Y. autism coverage mandate; Miss. 'personhood' referendum; Wis. MLR controversy

The dazzling new hospital that will open here in Hopewell on Sunday looks more like a five-star resort than a medical center. It may also be the best hope for survival of its corporate parent, Capital Health, a nonprofit company that operates three health care facilities in New Jersey.

3 Nov 2011

First Edition: November 2, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about Tuesday's super committee hearing and the message communicated by bipartisan budget hawks to the panel -- raise revenue and revamp health programs.

2 Nov 2011

Researchers identify FMRP protein as key player in RNA editing

The most common form of heritable cognitive impairment is Fragile X Syndrome, caused by mutation or malfunction of the FMR1 gene. Loss of FMR1 function is also the most common genetic cause of autism. Understanding how this gene works is vital to finding new treatments to help Fragile X patients and others.

31 Oct 2011

First report on how patterns of 5-hmC's distribution change in mouse brain during development

In 2009, the DNA alphabet expanded. Scientists discovered that an extra letter or "sixth nucleotide" was surprisingly abundant in DNA from stem cells and brain cells.

31 Oct 2011

UCLA's TIES for Families program receives $5,000 Disneyland grant

For the ninth year, the Disneyland Resort Cast Community Fund has awarded a $5,000 grant to UCLA's TIES (Training, Intervention, Education and Services) for Families program for its services and achievement. The UCLA-based program is dedicated to preparing and supporting adoptive families of children from foster care.

28 Oct 2011

The unvaccinated population contributing to the measles outbreak

As the US faces its largest outbreak of measles in 15 years - affecting 214 children so far – new research suggests too many unvaccinated U.S. children could be the reason. Experts speculate that unfounded fears regarding safety of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine leading to many children bring missed out could have led to this situation.

24 Oct 2011

SafeMinds praises UNEP's draft treaty ban on use of mercury in pharma products

SafeMinds applauds UNEP's draft treaty language which does not exempt the use of mercury in pharmaceutical products, including vaccines, from the global ban. Governmental regulators, public health officials and pharmaceutical companies have recognized that the toxicity of mercury in pharmaceutical and personal care products, to which people are directly exposed, justifies a preventive approach to minimize all exposures.

24 Oct 2011

Physical abnormality in airway linked with autism

Autism and autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) are currently diagnosed primarily through subjective observation of autistic behaviors. However, new research, presented at CHEST 2011, the 77th annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), suggests that a physical abnormality in the airway may be a prominent indicator for autism and autistic spectrum disorders, making it a possible diagnostic marker for this disease.

24 Oct 2011

Critical migrating neurons in the human brain decline during infancy

José Manuel García Verdugo, full professor of Cell Biology at University of Valencia, together with a University of California research team, has participated in the discovery of new pathways of neurons migrating from lateral ventricles to the prefrontal cortex. The work done in chidren at early ages reveals a new cell pathway which may increase the amount of neurons in regions important for cognitive tasks, emotional processes and spatial perception.

22 Oct 2011

Imaging study shows slower brain growth in children with autism

Researchers at UCLA have found a possible explanation for why autistic children act and think differently than their peers. For the first time, they've shown that the connections between brain regions that are important for language and social skills grow much more slowly in boys with autism than in non-autistic children.

21 Oct 2011

Researchers identify facial characteristics of children with autism

The face and brain develop in coordination, with each influencing the other, beginning in the embryo and continuing through adolescence. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found distinct differences between the facial characteristics of children with autism compared to those of typically developing children.

21 Oct 2011

Young docs not so keen on immunizations: Survey

A cross-sectional survey of 551 healthcare providers and noted that more recent graduates were less likely to think that vaccines were efficacious said Saad Omer, assistant professor of Emory University in Atlanta. They were also more likely to have doubts about the safety of some vaccines, Omer told reporters at the 49th annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

20 Oct 2011

Women with MET genetic variant and autoantibodies more likely to have autistic children

A study by researchers at UC Davis has found that pregnant women with a particular gene variation are more likely to produce autoantibodies to the brains of their developing fetuses and that the children of these mothers are at greater risk of later being diagnosed with autism.

20 Oct 2011

Neuroscientists discover normal brain communication in people with AgCC

Like a bridge that spans a river to connect two major metropolises, the corpus callosum is the main conduit for information flowing between the left and right hemispheres of our brains. Now, neuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology have found that people who are born without that link-a condition called agenesis of the corpus callosum, or AgCC-still show remarkably normal communication across the gap between the two halves of their brains.

20 Oct 2011