Autism News and Research

Latest Autism News and Research

New research promising for improving brain cell survival after brain injury

Scientists at Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute have found a protein in the brain that can save neurons from dying after experiencing traumatic brain injury from incidents such as stroke, car accidents and falls.

10 Jul 2006

Court says autism therapy age limit is not a form of discrimination

A court in Canada has ruled that the government's refusal to provide expensive therapy for all autistic children older than five is not age discrimination.

10 Jul 2006

Doctors say lives are in jeopardy because the public has been misled over MMR vaccine

Britain's top paediatricians and childhood vaccination experts have come out in force to condemn how the public has been misled over the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

29 Jun 2006

Early marker for autism found in the placenta

A team from Yale School of Medicine have found an abnormality in the placenta which could be the first indication of autism and they believe the discovery could lead to a diagnosis of the condition at birth, rather than the standard age of two or older.

27 Jun 2006

Who is to blame for the measles epidemic in Britain?

Health officials in Britain say the country is in the grip of the worst outbreak of measles and have blamed the 20-year high on a loss of confidence in the MMR vaccination.

19 Jun 2006

New roles for growth factors

During embryonic development, nerve cells hesitantly extend tentacle-like protrusions called axons that sniff their way through a labyrinth of attractive and repulsive chemical cues that guide them to their target.

18 Jun 2006

Doctor who linked MMR jab to autism faces charges of serious professional misconduct

A British doctor who caused panic by suggesting that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine was linked to autism is to be charged with serious professional misconduct.

12 Jun 2006

Most children diagnosed with autism at age 2 years appear to have the condition at 9 years

About three-fourths of children who are diagnosed with autism at age 2 years appear to have the condition at age 9 years, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

9 Jun 2006

Protein called Elk-1appears to play role in neurodegeneration and schizophrenia

Pprotein called Elk-1 interacts with mitochondria, the energy storehouse of a cell, suggesting that this protein - typically active in the nucleus - could play a role in cell death and mitochondria-related diseases such as neurodegeneration and schizophrenia.

9 Jun 2006

Link between autism and MMR vaccine again

The possible link between the MMR inoculation and autism will be raised yet again this week in a presentation that claims to provide proof.

29 May 2006

Researchers link novel mutated gene to mental retardation and imbalance syndrome

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a genetic cause for a form of pediatric brain malformation involving the cerebellum.

11 May 2006

300,000 U.S. schoolchildren diagnosed with autism

According to researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, the first-ever national estimate of the prevalence of autism in the United States has found that the disorder affects up to one in every 175 school-age children.

9 May 2006

NYU pediatric neurosurgeon reports on 25 children with tuberous sclerosis

Sadly, none of the treatments for epilepsy - anti-seizure medications, a procedure called vagus nerve stimulation, a special diet - could quell the electrical storms in the young boy's brain.

8 May 2006

'Autistic' mice may provide clue to cause of autism

Scientists in the United States have apparently created "autistic" mice by deleting a gene in key parts of the brain.

8 May 2006

Mutated gene leads to JSRD

The research team, directed by Joseph Gleeson, M.D., Director of the Neurogenetics Laboratory at the UCSD School of Medicine and associate professor in the Department of Neurosciences, have identified a new gene that, when mutated, leads to JSRD. Their findings will be published on-line in advance of publication in the journal Nature Genetics.

8 May 2006

Pten regulates neuronal arborization and social interaction in mice

While the causes of autism remain complex and mysterious, researchers are steadily adding pieces to its intricate puzzle. In what they believe to be a significant new approach to understanding "autism spectrum disorders" (ASD), researchers have developed a mouse that shows abnormal social interactions and brain hypertrophy characteristic of the disease.

3 May 2006

Researchers pinpoint autism's genetic roots

By deleting a gene in certain parts of the brain, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have created mice that show deficits in social interaction that are reminiscent of humans with autism spectrum disorders.

3 May 2006

National Autism Association points out possible conflicts of interest in new study denying epidemic rise in autism rates

A study published in Pediatrics, "The Contribution of Diagnostic Substitution to the Growing Administrative Prevalence of Autism in US Special Education," suggests that autism diagnoses haven't actually risen over the past two decades, despite growing and credible scientific evidence to the contrary.

19 Apr 2006

New research shows specific mechanisms may not exist for facial recognition

New research from Georgetown University Medical Center suggests that the brain may not have developed a specific ability for "understanding faces" but instead uses the same kind of pattern recognition techniques to distinguish between people as it uses to search for differences between other groups of objects, such as plants, animals and cars.

19 Apr 2006

Researchers identify new disorder called cortical dysplasia-focal epilepsy syndrome

Researchers from the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the Clinic for Special Children (CSC) in Strasburg, PA, have described a new childhood-onset disorder characterized by severe epilepsy and autistic traits, and identified its genetic basis.

11 Apr 2006