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Spectrum: Autism Research News

Tag: language

August 2017
Structural anomalies (purple and blue) in the brains of babies with autism at 6 months (bottom row) become more widespread by 12 months (top row).

Weak ‘wiring’ in infant brains augurs severe autism features

by  /  21 August 2017

Babies who are later diagnosed with autism may show aberrant connections between some brain regions in their first year of life.

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Week of AugustAug
14th
2017

Transcranial treatment; maternal inflammation; autism ants and more

by  /  18 August 2017

Transcranial treatment may bolster memory in adults with autism, inflammatory molecule may alter an emotional brain region in newborns, and examining ants could yield insights into autism

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Illustration: a child stands in the center of a crowd, looking confused.

Rethinking regression in autism

by  /  2 August 2017

The loss of abilities that besets some toddlers with autism is probably less sudden and more common than anyone thought.

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July 2017
Week of JulyJul
17th
2017

Valproate ban; hearing voices; adult autism and more

by  /  21 July 2017

A movement to ban valproate during pregnancy gains a foothold in France, people with auditory hallucinations seek to demedicalize the experience, and adults on the spectrum speak out.

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Like children, marmosets learn to ‘talk’ by listening

by  /  21 July 2017

Baby marmosets learn to vocalize by mimicking their parents, which helps to establish their utility for studying autism.

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Illustration: a brightly colored child stands among dark, shadowy figures.

The social ties between autism and schizophrenia

by  /  12 July 2017

Autism and schizophrenia share a long and tangled history. Comparing the social features of the two conditions could lead to better treatments and a deeper understanding of each.

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June 2017

Heart rate may foretell autism features in infants

by  /  28 June 2017

Babies with a family history of autism have heart rates that are unusually low and that respond aberrantly to speech sounds.

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May 2017

Chromosome 16 mutations augur distinct developmental paths

by  /  25 May 2017

Children missing a stretch of DNA on chromosome 16 show worsening motor and social skills in the first eight years of life; those with an extra copy of the region do not show this decline.

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Virtual reality yields clues to social difficulties in autism

by ,  /  16 May 2017

Assessing social ability in adults with autism requires controlled tests involving real-time social interactions. Virtual reality makes this possible.

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Many children with autism get significantly smarter over time

by  /  13 May 2017

Between the ages of 2 and 8, intelligence increases in half of children with autism. In some of these children, intellectual disability gives way to average intelligence.

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