Unusual Ultrasonic Vocalization Patterns In Mice May Be Useful For Modeling Autism
Scientists have found novel patterns of ultrasonic vocalizations in a genetic mouse model of autism, adding a unique element to the available mouse behaviors that capture components of the human disease, and representing a new step towards identifying causes and better treatments.
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Minnesota Officials To Examine Autism In Somali Immigrant Children
Minnesota health officials are examining a "possible surge" in autism cases among Somali immigrant children in the state, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. In Minneapolis, 3.6% of Somali immigrant students were in autism-related programs as of July, about twice the district average.
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Facial Structures, Brain Abnormalities Studied To Reveal Formula For Detection Of Autism
Recently, Harvard researchers reported that children with autism have a wide range of genetic defects, making it nearly impossible to develop a simple genetic test to identify the disorder. Now, University of Missouri researchers are studying 3-D imaging to reveal correlations in the facial features and brain structures of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which will enable them to develop a formula for earlier detection of the disorder.
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Project Lifesaver Program Helps Law Enforcement Locate At-Risk Citizens Across The USA
It all started because of failure, a missing person who couldn't be located in time. It was and still is a story that happens monthly, if not weekly all across our nation. For families and caregivers exploring options of how to protect a loved one who wanders away from the safety of their home due to Alzheimer's, Dementia, Autism, Intellectual Disabilities or other wandering conditions, there is hope.
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California Learning Center Offers Autism Programs Tailored For Chinese-American Children
The San Jose Mercury News on Wednesday profiled the Fremont, Calif.-based Dream Center, which is "believed to be the nation's only Chinese-centric autistic-focused center." The center was founded in 1996 by a few Chinese-American families to "help fellow Asians who were raised to feel ashamed of disabilities," according to the Mercury News.
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UT Houston Researchers Study Diet In Autistic Children - Possible Link Between Gluten, Dairy Products Will Be Tested
Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston have embarked on one of the first double-blind, clinical studies to determine whether gluten and dairy products play a role in autistic behavior as parents have anecdotally claimed. The pilot study is one of seven current studies on autism in the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.
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Chairman Of National Association Of Karate And Martial Art Schools Has Asperger Syndrome, UK
Joe Ellis, Chairman of NAKMAS (the National Association of Karate and Martial Art Schools) the national governing body of all forms of martial arts in the UK, has announced that he has the neurobiological condition known as Asperger Syndrome. The announcement coincides with the introduction of the NAKMAS Asperger Syndrome training programme, aimed at educating martial arts coaches about the condition.
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Pennsylvania Gov. Rendell Law Requiring Private Health Insurers To Cover Treatment For Autism
A bill recently signed by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) will require private health insurance companies in the state to provide diagnosis and treatment coverage of up to $36,000 per year for residents under age 21 with autism spectrum disorder, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
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Disrupted Communication Networks In Brain Lead To Autism's Social Struggles
Picking up on innuendo and social cues is a central component of engaging in conversation, but people with autism often struggle to determine another person's intentions in a social interaction. New research from Carnegie Mellon University sheds light on the neural mechanisms that are responsible for such social difficulties in autism, and on the workings of these social brain mechanisms in all of us.
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Bubble Blowing Robot May Help Children With Autism
Papers delivered at three conferences in the US and Europe this summer report on new research at the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering studying interactions of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) with bubble-blowing robots.
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Further Evidence For Genetic Contribution To Autism Discovered By Caltech And UNC Research
Some parents of children with autism evaluate facial expressions differently than the rest of us--and in a way that is strikingly similar to autistic patients themselves, according to new research by neuroscientist Ralph Adolphs of the California Institute of Technology and psychiatrist Joe Piven at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Common Mechanisms May Underlie Autism's Seemingly Diverse Mutations
Many of the seemingly disparate mutations recently discovered in autism may share common underlying mechanisms, say researchers supported in part by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The mutations may disrupt specific genes that are vital to the developing brain, and which are turned on and off by experience-triggered neuronal activity. A research team led by Christopher Walsh, M.D., Ph.D., and Eric Morrow, M.D., Ph.
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Middle Eastern Families Help Scientists Pinpoint Autism Genes
The hunt for gene mutations that contribute to autism has proceeded slowly, largely because autism encompasses a spectrum of diseases. Just as its symptoms vary widely among individuals, so do the genetic mutations that cause them.
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Middle Eastern Families Yield Intriguing Clues To Autism
Research involving large Middle Eastern families, sophisticated genetic analysis and groundbreaking neuroscience has implicated a half-dozen new genes in autism. More importantly, it strongly supports the emerging idea that autism stems from disruptions in the brain's ability to form new connections in response to experience consistent with autism's onset during the first year of life, when many of these connections are normally made.
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Autism Could Be Caused By Failure To Trigger Genes In Early Brain Development
An international team of scientists studying genetic causes of autism spectrum disorders by focusing on families where both parents shared a recent ancestor, found that seemingly diverse genes linked to autism had something in common in that many were triggered by by brain development that is regulated by early childhood experience.
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National Autistic Society Response To The Bercow Review On Children, Young People And Speech, Language And Communication, UK
The Bercow review has confirmed what many parents of children with autism have been telling us: provision for children with speech, language and communication needs is inadequate and must improve. We strongly welcome Bercow's crucial emphasis on early identification and intervention and support his call for an assessment process and better speech and language services.
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The First Autism Disease Genes
The autistic disorder, a neurodevelopmental disease first described in 1943, represents a challenge for treatment and a puzzle for research. Alongside Asperger syndrome, a milder form of the disorder, autism is classified in the continuum of various Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), all of which are characterized by deficits in language, social interaction, and a strangely restricted and repetitive behaviour (stereotypy). Disease onset occurs during the first three years of life.
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Autism And Lyme Disease Are Connected, Lyme-Induced Autism Study Finds
Lyme disease may play a role in causing autism according to a recent study published in Medical Hypothesis, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. A team of five physicians led by Robert Bransfield, M.D., analyzed the two diseases and discovered a connection based on epidemiological findings, symptom similarities, case reports, and laboratory test results. The Lyme-Induced Autism (LIA) Foundation has paved the way for studies such as this one.
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Researchers Link Early Stem Cell Mutation To Autism
In a breakthrough scientific study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research have shown that neural stem cell development may be linked to Autism. The study demonstrated that mice lacking the myocyte enhancer factor 2C (MEF2C) protein in neural stem cells had smaller brains, fewer nerve cells and showed behaviors similar to those seen in humans with a form of autism known as Rett Syndrome.
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Lack Of Fragile X And Related Gene Fractures Sleep
Lack of both the fragile X syndrome gene and one that is related could account for sleep problems associated with the disorder, which is the common cause of inherited mental impairment, said a consortium of researchers led by scientists at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Their findings appear in a report in the current issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.
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NIMH Funds Pitt Researchers To Find Best Treatments For Children With Autism And ADHD Symptoms
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC have received $3 million from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct a national study of the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children with autism spectrum disorders.
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Autistic Man, Who Is Also Kidney Transplant Recipient, Found In Woods
Keith Kennedy, 25, was found by a firefighter "conscious and alert" about one mile a camp he wandered away from one week ago. Keith is not only autistic, he is also a kidney transplant recipient and is on medication to make sure his kidney is not rejected by his body. Keith's family were concerned he might not be able to cope without his anti-rejection medication which he has had to take since 1995.
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UCLA Mouse Study Offers Hope For Correcting How Autism Disrupts Brain
UCLA researchers discovered that an FDA-approved drug reverses the brain dysfunction inflicted by a genetic disease called tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). Because half of TSC patients also suffer from autism, the findings offer new hope for addressing learning disorders due to autism. Nature Medicine publishes the findings in its online June 22 edition.
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Market America Announces Plans To Launch Vitamins For Children With Autism
Market America announced that it is in the development and testing stages of a new line of nutraceutical products that will support the health of children with autism and related neurodevelopmental challenges. Specialized laboratory testing often demonstrates sub-optimal levels of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids in people with autism, which can be addressed with nutritional supplements.
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Concept Media Releases AD/HD, Autism, And Mental Retardation Programs
Concept Media, a leading producer and distributor of healthcare education media, has just released ADHD: Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Mental Retardation in DVD and CD-ROM formats. These new scenario-based series have a multidisciplinary focus that features medicine, nursing, education, and human development.
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