Autism News and Research

Latest Autism News and Research

UIC receives $9.6 million grant for autism research

The University of Illinois at Chicago has been awarded a $9.6 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish an Autism Center of Excellence.

7 Aug 2007

Autistic intelligence

Autistic children are doubly stigmatized. On the one hand, they are often dismissed as low functioning or mentally retarded, especially if they have poor speaking skills as many do.

6 Aug 2007

Scientists discover brain cell development process implicated in mental retardation

New Brunswick, N.J. , Scientists at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, have discovered a biological process in brain cell development that may help explain some causes of mental retardation.

1 Aug 2007

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

Discovery of gene variant that increases risk for Crohn's disease

Pediatrics researchers have identified a gene variant that raises a child's risk of Crohn's disease, a chronic and painful condition attributed to inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract.

19 Jul 2007

Children at birthday party paid by 'MMR row' doctor for their blood

The General Medical Council (GMC) in Britain has heard that Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who is facing allegations of serious professional misconduct with regard to research on the triple measles-mumps-rubella MMR vaccine, paid children £5 to take their blood samples at his son's birthday party.

16 Jul 2007

Experts in Britain wholeheartedly back MMR jab

A disciplinary hearing due to begin this week in the UK may well settle the debate over any link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) and autism.

16 Jul 2007

New gene found for type 1 diabetes in children

Pediatrics researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and McGill University in Montreal have identified a gene variant that raises a child's risk for type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile diabetes.

16 Jul 2007

Link between autism and triple vaccination questioned again

According to a new but as yet unpublished study, the number of children in Britain with autism is far higher than previously thought.

8 Jul 2007

Autism symptoms can appear as early as 14 months

According to a new study autism can be spotted as early as 14 months which is much earlier than previously thought.

4 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

Inhibition of return and autism

Next time you lose your car keys and enlist the family to help you search, try a little experiment.

28 Jun 2007

Autism reversed in mice

Scientists in the United States have been able to reverse the effects of autism in specially bred mice.

26 Jun 2007

Analysis of school-based social skills interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders

A meta-analysis of 55 published research studies reveals programs designed to teach social skills to children with autism are failing to meet their goals.

26 Jun 2007

MIT researchers reverse behavioral symptoms in mice

Researchers at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT have, for the first time, reversed symptoms of mental retardation and autism in mice.

26 Jun 2007

Autism-related proteins control nerve excitability

Two proteins that are implicated in autism have been found to control the strength and balance of nerve-cell connections, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

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

Autistic children have a capacity to understand other people through stereotypes

The research shows that autistic children are just as able as others to predict people's behaviour when stereotypes, such as gender and race, are the only available guide.

19 Jun 2007

Structure of protein altered in autism revealed

As a result of mapping the structure of the protein complex implicated in autism spectrum disorders, a research team led by scientists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences has discovered how particular genetic mutations affect this complex and contribute to the developmental abnormalities found in children with autism.

15 Jun 2007