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Spectrum: Autism Research News

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Science & Society

From funding decisions to scientific fraud, a wide range of societal factors shape autism research.

August 2011

Modified stem cells make glowing neurons

by  /  10 August 2011

A new technique allows researchers to make stable modifications to neurons by incorporating modified amino acids into the proteins of stem cells. The method permits researchers to investigate neuronal function in live, intact cells.

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X-linked variants may up autism, schizophrenia risk

by  /  3 August 2011

The first study to sequence more than 100 genes on the X chromosome in people with autism or schizophrenia has turned up some promising leads.

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Virtual reality helps track body balance in autism

by  /  3 August 2011

With a few screen projectors, a pair of three-dimensional glasses and an 8-foot cubicle, researchers have transported adolescents with autism into shaky virtual worlds and discovered that they have surprisingly stable posture.

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July 2011

Fragile X protein found to regulate key autism candidates

by  /  28 July 2011

The protein missing in people with fragile X syndrome regulates the activity of more than 800 other proteins, including some key players in autism, according to a study published 22 July in Cell. Many of these autism-associated proteins cluster on either side of the synapse, the junction between neurons.

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Wendy Chung: Genetic sleuth is advocate for families

by  /  21 July 2011

Wendy Chung planned to spend her career in a research lab, identifying rare pathologies. But life had other plans for her.

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Shape shifters

by  /  19 July 2011

Breaking down the learning of new concepts into small steps may help people with autism retain new skills.

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Parent trap

by  /  15 July 2011

Mothers of children with autism are rated by their husbands as rigid and inflexible whereas fathers are viewed by their wives as aloof. Perhaps these qualities are reinforced by the challenges of raising a child with the disorder?

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Masked emotions

by  /  12 July 2011

A new study shows that women with high-functioning autism appear better able to camouflage their symptoms, perhaps because they are more self-aware than men with the disorder.

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Lonely hunters

by  /  8 July 2011

Cognitive traits associated with autism may have helped our ancestors survive, according to a fascinating new study. But those traits are no longer an advantage.

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Autism as alibi

by  /  5 July 2011

Some computer hackers are pleading their autism diagnosis to avoid jail time.

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