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Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:00:00 PST Controlled Study Finds Possible Early Warning Signs For Autism Spectrum Disorders Within Families A new study suggests a trend toward developing hyperactivity among typically developing elementary-school-aged siblings of autistic preschoolers and supports the notion that mothers of young, autistic children experience more depression and stress than mothers with typically developing children... Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:00:00 PST Autism Walk Expects 15,000 People Thousands will unite for autism at the 8th annual Los Angeles Walk Now for Autism Speaks at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, Saturday, April 24, 2010. Powered by volunteers and families with loved ones on the autism spectrum, this fundraising effort generates vital funds for autism research, awareness and family services... Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:00:00 PST Loss Of Enzyme Reduces Neural Activity In Angelman Syndrome Angelman Syndrome is a rare but serious genetic disorder that causes a constellation of developmental problems in affected children, including mental retardation, lack of speech, and in some cases, autism... Thu, 04 Mar 2010 02:00:00 PST Government Announces Landmark Strategy To Transform Adult Autism Support, UK The National Autistic Society (NAS) welcomed a raft of new measures in the landmark adult autism strategy published today aimed at tackling the isolation, ignorance and inequality routinely experienced by the over 300,000 adults with autism in England... Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:00:00 PST Asuragen And The UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute Publish Results Of A Study Evaluating A Novel Fragile X PCR Assay Asuragen, Inc. announced the results of a collaborative study with scientists at the M.I.N.D. Institute at the University of California Davis evaluating a new PCR technology that reproducibly reports mutations associated with Fragile X syndrome (FXS)... Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 PST Neuroscientist Steers Research Into Neurological Disorders Scientists at the Queensland Brain Institute have uncovered a vital clue into how the brain is wired, which could eventually steer research into nervous system disorders such as Parkinson's disease and cognitive disorders including autism. It's long been known that growing nerve fibres, also known as axons, must make connections in the brain for it to function properly... Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:00:00 PST Launching Of New Genetic Test For Cause Of Intellectual Disability For the second time in as many months the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has signed a licensing agreement with US-based Athena Diagnostics Inc. to market a new genetic test. The test was developed by CAMH scientist Dr. John Vincent as well as independent clinical researcher Dr. Muhammad Ayub. It is based on their research into genetic causes of intellectual disability... Sat, 27 Feb 2010 02:00:00 PST The Coalition For Vaccine Safety Calls For Congressional Hearings On Federal Agencies' Failure To Provide Adequate Safety Research In a letter to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of House and Senate Committees charged with oversight of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Coalition for Vaccine Safety (CVS) is calling for hearings to investigate HHS, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other government agencies for failure to fully address issues of vaccine safety as intended by the ... Sat, 27 Feb 2010 01:00:00 PST In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, A Mother's Sensitivity May Help Language Growth A new study by researchers from the University of Miami shows that maternal sensitivity may influence language development among children who go on to develop autism. Although parenting styles are not considered as a cause for autism, this report examines how early parenting can promote resiliency in this population... Fri, 26 Feb 2010 06:00:00 PST MeCP2 Goes Global - Redefining The Function Of The Rett Syndrome Protein A paper published online in Molecular Cell proposes that Methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) impacts the entire genome in neurons, rather than acting as a regulator of specific genes. Mutations in MeCP2 cause the autism spectrum disorder Rett Syndrome as well as some cases of neuropsychiatric problems including autism, schizophrenia and learning disabilities... Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PST Hormone Study Gives Scientists A Sense Of How Animals Bond Scientists have pinpointed how a key hormone helps animals to recognise others by their smell. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have shown that the hormone vasopressin helps the brain differentiate between familiar and new scents... Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PST Discovery Of Gene Mutation Linked To Autism-Like Symptoms In Mice When a gene implicated in human autism is disabled in mice, the rodents show learning problems and obsessive, repetitive behaviors, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. The researchers also report that a drug affecting a specific type of nerve function reduced the obsessive behavior in the animals, suggesting a potential way to treat repetitive behaviors in humans... Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:00:00 PST Autism And Schizophrenia: Research Builds On Genetic Link A genetic link between schizophrenia and autism is enabling researchers to study the effectiveness of drugs used to treat both illnesses. Dr Steve Clapcote from the University of Leeds's Faculty of Biological Sciences will be analysing behaviour displayed by mice with a genetic mutation linked to schizophrenia and autism and seeing how antipsychotic drugs affect their behavioural abnormalities... Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:00:00 PST Curemark CM-AT Autism Treatment Granted FDA Fast Track Status Curemark LLC, a drug research and development company focused on the treatment of neurological diseases, announced that its CM-AT autism treatment, now in Phase III clinical trials, has been designated as a Fast Track drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)... Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:00:00 PST Music Training Enhances Brainstem Sensitivity To Speech Sounds At a press briefing, Saturday, Feb. 20, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, a Northwestern University neuroscientist argued that music training has profound effects that shape the sensory system and should be a mainstay of K-12 education... Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:00:00 PST Autism: The Administration Of Oxytocin Improves The Social Behavior Of Patients Autism is a disease characterized by difficulties in communicating effectively with other people and developing social relationships... Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:00:00 PST Autism's Earliest Symptoms Not Evident In Children Under 6 Months A study of the development of autism in infants, comparing the behavior of the siblings of children diagnosed with autism to that of babies developing normally, has found that the nascent symptoms of the condition - a lack of shared eye contact, smiling and communicative babbling - are not present at 6 months, but emerge gradually and only become apparent during the latter part... Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:00:00 PST Insight Into Causes Of Autism: Brain Study Scientists are a step closer to understanding how abnormalities in brain development might lead to autism and behavioural disorders. Research into Fragile X Syndrome - a genetic condition that is the leading known cause of autism - has discovered that critical phases in the brain's development may be mistimed in people with the condition... Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:00:00 PST New Clue Why Autistic People Don't Want Hugs Why do people with fragile X syndrome, a genetic defect that is the best-known cause of autism and inherited mental retardation, recoil from hugs and physical touch - even from their parents? New research has found in fragile X syndrome there is delayed development of the sensory cortex, the part of the brain that responds to touch, according to a study from Northwestern Uni... Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PST Seaside Therapeutics Announces Issuance Of Key Patent For Treatment Of Autism Spectrum Disorders Seaside Therapeutics LLC announced the issuance of U.S. patent 7,648,993 B2 ('993 patent), which covers methods of treating autism with group 1 antagonists of the metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) pathway. An earlier related patent, U.S... Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:00:00 PST Developmental Delay In Brain Provides Clue To Sensory Hypersensitivity In Autism New research provides insight into why fragile X syndrome, the most common known cause of autism and mental retardation, is associated with an extreme hypersensitivity to sounds, touch, smells, and visual stimuli that causes sensory overload and results in social withdrawal, hyperarousal, and anxiety... Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:00:00 PST New Proposed Changes Posted For Leading Manual Of Mental Disorders The American Psychiatric Association today released the proposed draft diagnostic criteria for the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)... Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PST Additional Evidence Refutes Vaccine-Autism Link As a pivotal paper linking childhood vaccinations to autism is discredited, a new study finds no evidence that the measles vaccine-given alone or as part of a combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine-increases the risk of autism in children... Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:00:00 PST Autism Risk Higher When Mother Is Older, Study Researchers who studied records of all births occurring in California in the 1990s found that the risk of having a child with autism was significantly higher when the mother was older, regardless of the father's age, except when the mother was younger, the risk was also higher if the father were older... Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:00:00 PST Brain Development And Toxic Chemicals The Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI) released the first-ever biomonitoring report identifying toxic chemical pollution in people from the learning and developmental disability community...