Parents of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) sometimes report that their children suffer from gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, such as diarrhea and constipation. However, studies on how prevalent these symptoms are have had conflicting results. A new study conducted by Autism Speaks' Autism Treatment Network (ATN) shows that GI symptoms occur in nearly half of children with ASD, ...

Reports have suggested that sleep problems in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are associated with challenging daytime behaviors. A new study on a large group of youths with ASD confirms these reports and will support the development of treatments for sleep disturbances as a way to improve behavior, according to researchers from Autism Speaks' Autism Treatment Network (ATN). ...

When your mind wanders, you're not paying attention to what's going in front of you. A new study suggests that it's not just the mind, it's the body, too; when subjects' minds wandered, they blinked more, setting up a tiny physical barrier between themselves and the outside world. ...

Scientists at Stanford and Harvard Universities collaborated to assess the clinical usefulness of analyzing a patient’s full genome for disease risks and unusual drug responses. The work brings closer to reality the concept that whole-genome sequencing might one day play a clinical role. The analysis, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), appears in the May 1, 2010 issue of Lancet. ...

How much "green exercise" produces the greatest improvement in mood and sense of personal well-being? A new study in the American Chemical Society's semi-monthly journal Environmental Science & Technology has a surprising answer. The answer is likely to please people in a society with much to do but little time to do it: Just five minutes of exercise in a park, working in a backyard garden, on a nature trai ...

A new study from the University of Rochester finds that there is no single advanced area of the human brain that gives it language capabilities above and beyond those of any other animal species. Instead, humans rely on several regions of the brain, each designed to accomplish different primitive tasks, in order to make sense of a sentence. Depending on the type of grammar used in forming a given sentence, ...

When pediatricians see a child for a check-up, they may want to spend a few minutes checking out the mother's well-being, too. New research suggests that depression is common in disadvantaged mothers, well beyond the postpartum period. In addition, if depressed moms are treated briefly, their symptoms improve as do their perceptions of their child's behavior or the behavior problems themselves. ...

An investigational intervention using naturally occurring antibodies in human blood has preserved the thinking abilities of a group of mild- to moderate-stage Alzheimer's patients over 18 months and significantly reduced the rate of atrophy (shrinkage) of their brains, according to a study performed at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. ...

Overwhelmed by tons of daily diet advice? If only we knew which diet tips to follow. According to a new finding by a team of Cornell University researchers, dieters who focus on changing their surroundings find it easier to adhere to their diet. Understandably, they also report losing the most weight. The researchers, led by Brian Wansink, Director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, presented their findings ...

Living with pain is stressful, but a surprisingly short investment of time in mental training can help you cope. A new study examining the perception of pain and the effects of various mental training techniques has found that relatively short and simple mindfulness meditation training can have a significant positive effect on pain management. Though pain research during the past decade has shown that exten ...