Skip to main content

Spectrum: Autism Research News

Tag: intellectual disability

December 2014

Gauging intelligence in autism over time

by  /  12 December 2014

Adapting traditional tests of intelligence for people with intellectual disability can deflate their scores over time. Somer Bishop calls for tests that more accurately assess intelligence in this group.

Comments
November 2014

Genetics first: A fresh take on autism’s diversity

by  /  24 November 2014

Each child with autism is different from the next. One approach rapidly gaining momentum makes sense of this diversity by grouping children together based on their genetics, then looking for patterns in their symptoms. The long-term aim: personalized treatments for each subtype of autism.

Comments

Simple steps aim to solve science’s ‘reproducibility problem’

by  /  17 November 2014

Leaders from the National Institutes of Health and Nature Publishing Group say an array of simple reforms can boost the reliability of research findings. Their suggestions spurred a lively audience discussion yesterday at the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Comments

Targeting potassium channel eases autism symptoms in mice

by  /  17 November 2014

Lowering the levels of a certain ion channel reverses autism-like behaviors in a mouse model of fragile X syndrome, according to unpublished results presented yesterday at the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Comments

Treatment prevents autism-like symptoms in ‘teenage’ mice

by  /  16 November 2014

A treatment that targets the genetic defect in tuberous sclerosis prevents autism-like symptoms in mice at 6 weeks of age — the mouse equivalent of adolescence. Researchers presented the unpublished results yesterday at the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
 

Comments
October 2014

Timing between pregnancies may alter autism risk

by  /  28 October 2014

Children born too soon or too long after their siblings have an increased risk of autism, a new study reports.

Comments

Searching for psychiatrists with expertise in autism

by  /  17 October 2014

There is an urgent need for psychiatrists who are trained to care for individuals with autism. Matthew Siegel calls for a formal training program in autism for psychiatrists.
 

Comments
September 2014

Study uncovers link between autism risk gene, language

by  /  30 September 2014

Mutations in TBR1, a candidate gene for autism, compromise its functions and its ability to bind its partners — including FOXP2. Alan Packer explores the gene’s emerging link to language.

Comments
Mouse lab test: the three chambered assay

Optimizing behavioral assays for mouse models of autism

by  /  23 September 2014

As the number of autism rodent models climbs, it is a good time for the field to step back and consider the best practices for assessing autism-like symptoms in rodents, says Jacqueline Crawley.

Comments

SHANK3 mutations turn up in high proportion of autism cases

by  /  18 September 2014

About 2 percent of people who have both autism and intellectual disability carry harmful mutations in SHANK3, a protein that helps organize the connections between neurons, according to a study published 4 September in PLoS Genetics.

Comments