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Autism spectrum disorders news

Autism spectrum disorders

Scientists grow mini brains to uncover cells behind autism-related brain overgrowth

A new study in the lab of Jason Stein, Ph.D., modeled brain development in a dish to identify cells and genes that influence infant brain growth, a trait associated with autism.

Neuroscience

Molecular difference in autistic brains may explain signaling imbalance

Yale School of Medicine (YSM) scientists have discovered a molecular difference in the brains of autistic people compared to their neurotypical counterparts.

Autism spectrum disorders

AI-assisted device may improve autism care access

Access to autism evaluations through specialty health care is notorious for long wait times across the United States. In Missouri, many families wait nearly a year for a diagnostic appointment. AI might be a solution to cutting ...

Neuroscience

Protein abnormality illuminates communication struggles in autism

A DGIST research team identified that the mutation of the collybistin protein found in autistic patients weakens the brain's inhibitory synaptic function and leads to communication deficiencies. The results of this research ...

Neuroscience

Study maps brain wiring differences in youth with autism

Researchers at the Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (Stevens INI) at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have uncovered new insights into how brain wiring differs in children and young adults with ...

Autism spectrum disorders

What to know about the CDC's baseless new guidance on autism

The rewriting of a page on the CDC's website to assert the false claim that vaccines may cause autism sparked a torrent of anger and anguish from doctors, scientists, and parents who say Health and Human Services Secretary ...

Autism spectrum disorders

Vaccines 'don't cause autism': How scientists figured that out

In the late 1990s, a theory gripped parents around the world: What if childhood vaccines—particularly the combined measles-mumps-rubella vaccine—cause autism? Nearly three decades later, the debunked theory has gained ...

Genetics

Broad spectrum of autism depends on spectrum of genetic factors

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is referred to as a "spectrum" because clinical features of ASD range from mild social impairments in some people to severe intellectual disability or epilepsy in others. Genetic studies have ...

Autism spectrum disorders

Could beating drums help beat autism?

The percussive skill needed to bang out rhythms on a drum may help improve socializing, inhibition control and focus among teens with autism, new research suggests.

Medications

Prenatal exposure to certain antiseizure meds linked to autism

Prenatal exposure to topiramate, valproate, and certain duotherapies is associated with increased risks for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID), according to a study published online May 31 in ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Evaluating a new form of therapy for autistic individuals

A doctoral thesis at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has investigated whether Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) can be used for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The results show that the treatment can be carried ...

Autism spectrum disorders

Autism-friendly MRI for more inclusive medical imaging

Autism is neither a disorder nor a disease; it is part of neurodiversity, which affects the wiring of the brain and may impact on how autistic people communicate and interact with the world. About one in 100 people are autistic ...

Autism spectrum disorders

Autistic adults report high rates of COVID-19 vaccination

As reported in 2021, autistic adults, adults with intellectual disability and adults with mental health diagnoses have multiple risk factors for COVID-19 infection, and more severe disease if contracted. Public health messaging ...

Autism spectrum disorders

Does autism begin in the womb?

An international research group led by Professor Toru Takumi (Senior Visiting Scientist, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research) and Researcher Chia-wen Lin at Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine has shown ...

Autism spectrum disorders

With autism numbers rising, how best to provide support?

Recently released data from the Centers for Disease Control show childhood autism rates are at their highest level since the CDC began tracking data in 2000. About 2.3% of U.S. children, or one in 44, were diagnosed with ...

Neuroscience

Zeroing in on a new treatment for autism and epilepsy

Children with Dravet syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy that begins in infancy, experience seizures, usually for their entire life. They are at high risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) and can also develop ...

Autism spectrum disorders

New program may help parents of children with autism, study finds

Researchers at Penn State and the University of South Carolina have recently found that a program for parents of children recently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) shows promising evidence of helping parents ...