Neurons in the prefrontal cortex of individuals with autism show changes at numerous sites across the genome, according to a study being published Online First by the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The study was carried out by Hennady P. Shulha, Ph.D., of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Mass., and colleagues. ...

We must stop considering the different brain structure of autistic individuals to be a deficiency, as research reveals that many autistic people – not just “savants” – have qualities and abilities that may exceed those of people who do not have the condition, according to a provocative article published today in Nature by Dr. Laurent Mottron at the University of Montreal's Centre for Excellence in Pervasive ...

Researchers at UCLA have found a possible explanation for why autistic children act and think differently than their peers. For the first time, they have shown that the connections between brain regions that are important for language and social skills grow much more slowly in boys with autism than in non-autistic children. Included in this report is a video time lapse comparison of normal brain versus auti ...

A study by researchers at UC Davis has found that pregnant women with a particular gene variation are more likely to produce autoantibodies to the brains of their developing fetuses and that the children of these mothers are at greater risk of later being diagnosed with autism. The finding is the first to demonstrate a genetic mechanism at play in the development of the neurodevelopmental disorder among som ...

A review of the genetic and biochemical abnormalities associated with autism reveals a possible link between the widely diagnosed neurological disorder and Type 2 diabetes, another medical disorder on the rise in recent decades. Included in this report is a video summary of the research results by the lead researcher. ...

Autism researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing have found a link between low birthweight and children diagnosed with autism, reporting premature infants are five times more likely to have autism than children born at normal weights. The children, some born as small as about a pound, were followed for 21 years making this study, published in the prestigious journal Pediatrics, one of ...

New research from the University of Utah in collaboration with the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) shows that the presence or absence of intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) varies with risk factors such as gender, parental age, maternal ethnicity, and maternal level of education. The study, published Sept. 15, 2011, in Autism Research, also shows that household income level has ...

Poorer movement skills detected as early as 7 months old are observed in children at a higher risk of developing Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) than children in the general population. These are the findings of a study that was recently presented at the British Psychological Society's Developmental Section Conference in Newcastle. ...

Research supported by the Autism Speaks Autism Treatment Network (ATN), demonstrating that symptoms of attention deficit and hyperactivity worsen quality of life for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), was presented today at the Society for Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Researchers Parul Vora, M.D., developmental-behavioral pediatric fellow at ...

In a new study published in the journal Developmental Science, researchers from Vanderbilt University and the Kennedy Krieger Institute found that early motor experiences can shape infants’ preferences for objects and faces. The study findings demonstrate that providing infants with “sticky mittens” to manipulate toys increases their subsequent interest in faces, suggesting advanced social development. Incl ...