Autism News and Research

Latest Autism News and Research

Research shows brain's ability to overcome pain and thirst

Researchers at Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute have discovered how the brain prioritises pain and thirst in order to survive - a mechanism that helps elite athletes to 'push through the pain barrier'.

30 Jan 2006

Children with autism found to have specific memory problems that may underlie aspects of disorder

If children with autism can't see the forest for the trees, that may be partly because the burden of processing all those trees at once makes it harder to lock in the scene.

23 Jan 2006

New microRNA mechanism for regulating brain function

Non-coding regions of the genome - those that don't code for proteins - are now known to include important elements that regulate gene activity. Among those elements are microRNAs, tiny, recently discovered RNA molecules that suppress gene expression.

18 Jan 2006

Genetic cause of autism

The researchers at the U School of Medicine made the finding by tracing variations in the DNA of an extended Utah family that has a high occurrence of the disorder and whose members are descended from one couple.

18 Jan 2006

Fish oil may improve behaviour of children with special educational needs

Students at a school for children with special educational needs in the UK are taking part in a study to see if taking fish oil supplements can improve their behaviour.

10 Jan 2006

Surprising autism finding

New brain imaging research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill indicates that when people with autism look at a face, activity in the brain area that responds is similar to that of people without autism.

13 Dec 2005

Brain enlargement may indicate autism

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has found evidence of brain enlargement in a relatively large sample of children with autism, compared with children who do not have the disorder, according to a study in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

13 Dec 2005

Mirror neurons in autistic children abnormal

Researchers have found, through the use of functional MRI scans that looked at the brain, that there is an abnormal activity in the some of the neurons in the brains of autistic children.

5 Dec 2005

Recognizing facial expressions is separate from identifying familiar faces in autism or Asperger's

In contrast to previous reports, for those with autism or Asperger's syndrome, recognizing facial expressions is separate from identifying familiar faces, according to a study published in Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

28 Nov 2005

Methylphenidate may be effective in treating autism

Methylphenidate, a medication used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), may be effective in treating hyperactivity symptoms in children with autism and related pervasive developmental disorders, researchers report in the November Archives of General Psychiatry.

26 Nov 2005

Changes in our early sensory experiences resulting from disease or environmental factors may shape our sensory perceptions

Our brain's ability to combine sensory information from a single event - such as seeing an ambulance and hearing its siren - has been shown to speed our reactions, help us identify objects and heighten our awareness.

21 Nov 2005

Methylphenidate shows promise for hyperactivity associated with autism

Medication commonly used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be effective for treatment of hyperactivity symptoms in children with autism and related pervasive developmental disorders, according to a study in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

7 Nov 2005

New understanding of how neurogenesis occurs

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a crucial cellular signal that controls the fate of stem cells in the brains of adult mice.

27 Oct 2005

Research has important implications for autism

New research from Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute helps to explain why children with autism spectrum disorders (autism) have problem-solving difficulties.

24 Oct 2005

Newly discovered role of MECP2 gene in Rett Syndrome

Huda Zoghbi, of Baylor College of Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Juan Young, also of Baylor and colleagues report in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, posted the week of October 17, 2005, that the Rett Syndrome gene, MECP2, regulates RNA splicing.

18 Oct 2005

No credible evidence behind claims of harm from the MMR vaccination

There was no credible evidence behind claims of harm from the MMR vaccination. This is the conclusion drawn by the Cochrane Review Authors, an international team of researchers, after carefully drawing together all of the evidence found in 31 high quality studies from around the world.

18 Oct 2005

Pathological liars found to have less gray matter

In a new study Dr. Adrian Raine and Yaling Yang of the University of Southern California, and colleagues found that individuals who habitually lied and cheated had less gray matter and more white matter in their prefrontal cortex than normal people.

18 Oct 2005

Breath-analysis testing may prove to be an effective method for detecting the damaging lung-bacteria growth seen in cystic fibrosis

By using a chemical analysis method developed for air-pollution testing, UCI chemists and pediatricians have found that people with cystic fibrosis exhale higher concentrations of sulfur compounds from their lungs than do people who don't have the disease.

17 Oct 2005

Rett syndrome discovery

The gene responsible for Rett syndrome, a devastating neurological disease found mostly in girls, not only silences some genes but in combination with another also regulates alternative splicing, crucial to the formation of proteins -- a finding that may explain the symptoms associated with this puzzling disorder and others related to it

17 Oct 2005

New information regarding the genetic, cellular and neurological bases of susceptibility to autism and schizophrenia

Two New Jersey research teams are reporting discoveries about the biological nature of psychiatric disorders that may bring them closer to the ultimate goal of finding cures for complex diseases, such as autism and schizophrenia.

9 Oct 2005