Life for most New Yorkers is getting back to normal after the unprecedented destruction caused last week by Hurricane Sandy, but researchers at New York University face a painful and painstaking recovery.
Family members of individuals with autism process faces and scenes differently than do controls, according to two new studies, one of them published in October. This suggests that visual processing may be an autism endophenotype — a measurable symptom that represents part of the genetic risk of a disorder.
Two new case studies highlight how complex rearrangements of chromosome 15 can lead to different disorders, including autism and the related Prader-Willi syndrome.
Contradicting a popular hypothesis in autism, a new study from Australia has found no connection between autism and bacteria in the gut. The analysis, published 20 September in the journal Autism Research, reports that the gastrointestinal systems of children with autism harbor the same bacteria as those of their typically developing siblings.
The families of children with specific language impairment do not have a history of autism, according to a study published 28 August in Genes, Brain and Behavior. The results bolster the theory that the two disorders have independent risk factors.
A genetic panel intended to predict the risk of developing autism debuted for clinical use in April, while another is in commercial development and a third was published in Molecular Psychiatry in September. But some experts are concerned, saying the tests are based on preliminary scientific evidence.
Rare antibodies taken from mothers of children with autism lead to developmental delay and anxiety in mouse pups, according to a study published 27 August in the Journal of Neuroimmunology.
People with autism are twice as likely as controls to have mutations that disable both copies of a gene, according to preliminary research presented Wednesday at the Autism Consortium Research Symposium in Boston.
Children with autism have trouble imitating others’ actions, a trait that may be linked to their poor motor skills, according to a study published 10 September in PLoS One.
Mutations in SHANK3, a leading autism risk gene, occur in roughly two percent of individuals with autism spectrum disorders, according to a study published 15 August in the European Journal of Human Genetics.