Autism News and Research

Latest Autism News and Research

Toxic chemicals affecting childrens brains

According to a new report toxic chemicals may be causing a pandemic of brain disorders because of inadequate regulation.

8 Nov 2006

New imaging technique reveals differences in brains of people with autism

Using a new form of brain imaging known as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), researchers in the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging at Carnegie Mellon University have discovered that the so-called white matter in the brains of people with autism has lower structural integrity than in the brains of normal individuals.

23 Oct 2006

Too much TV for tots could lead to autism?

A new study has come up with the rather bizarre theory that watching too much television at an early age may trigger autism.

23 Oct 2006

Facial expressions run in families

According to a team of Israeli scientists the faces we pull when we are emotional are inherited from our ancestors.

19 Oct 2006

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

Schizophrenia drug to be used to treat autism

A drug normally used to treat schizophrenia has been given approval by the U.S. the Food and Drug Administration for use in treating the symptoms of autism in children and adolescents.

9 Oct 2006

FDA approves Risperdal to treat irritability associated with autism

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Risperdal (risperidone) orally disintegrating tablets, an adult antipsychotic drug, for the symptomatic treatment of irritability in autistic children and adolescents.

8 Oct 2006

Older fathers almost six times more likely to have autistic children

Researchers in the U.S. have found that children fathered by older men have a higher risk of developing autism, possibly because of mutations or other genetic changes.

5 Sep 2006

Children of men age 40 and older have a significantly increased risk of having autism

Children of men age 40 and older have a significantly increased risk of having autism spectrum disorders compared with those whose fathers are younger than 30 years, according to an article in the September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

4 Sep 2006

Inflammation in brain tissue a possible clue to autism

According to new research the common medical belief that young children with autism have accelerated brain growth is not the case even though their brains may appear enlarged.

24 Aug 2006

$1M Myers Fellowship brings US research techniques to Melbourne

The Howard Florey Institute's inaugural Allan and Maria Myers Travel Fellowship has been awarded to world renowned neuroscientist, Prof Gerard Shaw, from the McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida College of Medicine.

20 Aug 2006

Autism affects the functioning of virtually the entire brain

A recent study provides evidence that autism affects the functioning of virtually the entire brain, and is not limited to the brain areas involved with social interactions, communication behaviors, and reasoning abilities, as had been previously thought.

16 Aug 2006

Rett syndrome can also strike males

The common thinking in the past had been that Rett syndrome only affects girls.

8 Aug 2006

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

In the on-going search to find the cause of Autistic Spectrum Disorders, the latest research says different genes may be responsible for causing autism in boys than in girls, and the discovery may help explain why the condition is more common in boys.

3 Aug 2006