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Spectrum: Autism Research News

News Archive

September 2011

Chromosome 16 duplication raises risk of extreme thinness

by  /  1 September 2011

Individuals with a duplication of a chromosomal region associated with autism and intellectual disability are at higher risk for low birth weight, restricted eating leading to extreme thinness, and smaller-than-average head size.

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August 2011

Cognition and behavior: Autism brain patterns inherited

by  /  31 August 2011

Healthy parents of children with autism have an atypical brain response to sound frequency changes that mimics the response of individuals with the disorder.

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Genetics: Spontaneous mutations play role in schizophrenia

by  /  30 August 2011

Harmful spontaneous mutations may account for up to half the cases of non-inherited schizophrenia.

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Women researchers in autism face glass ceiling

by  /  29 August 2011

Women scientists did much of the important early work in the field of autism, but they still struggle with lower salaries, more teaching responsibilities in their institutions and fewer opportunities to head up large, multi-center collaborations.

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Molecular mechanisms: Antisocial mice have elevated immunity

by  /  26 August 2011

BTBR mice, which are less social than the typical B6 mice, have an elevated immune response in their brains and blood compared with those mice, according to a study published 20 July in PLoS ONE. Hybrids of BTBR and B6 mice have intermediate levels of immune molecules.

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Language gene regulates autism candidate

by  /  25 August 2011

A protein linked to language development, FOXP2, regulates the autism candidate gene MET, according to a study published 10 August in the Journal of Neuroscience.

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Cognition and behavior: Autism linked to focused attention

by  /  24 August 2011

Individuals with autism struggle to switch their attention between sounds and pictures, and are less likely than controls to be distracted by a face, according to two studies published this summer.

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Clinical research: Metabolic disorders rare in autism

by  /  23 August 2011

Screening for metabolic disorders in children with autism is not cost-effective, according to a study published 7 July in PLoS One. The researchers argue instead for careful individual clinical analysis.

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Attention deficit, autism share genetic risk factors

by  /  22 August 2011

Some of the same genetic risk factors may underlie both autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to a study published 10 August in Science Translational Medicine.

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Genetics: Gene variants can predict autism severity

by  /  19 August 2011

Children with autism who carry a certain variant of a protein involved in inhibitory signaling have more severe symptoms than those with another variant of the same gene, according to a study published 24 July in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

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