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Spectrum: Autism Research News

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Signs & Symptoms

Autism’s core symptoms accompany a constellation of subtle signs that scientists are just beginning to unmask.

February 2010

Dog pedigrees unearth genes for psychiatric disease

by  /  22 February 2010

Researchers are using dogs as models of psychiatric and behavioral conditions, including obsessive-compulsive disorder and autism.

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Pregnancy drugs increase baby’s autism risk, group claims

by  /  16 February 2010

A class of medications widely used during pregnancy to treat asthma and prevent early labor increases the baby’s risk of autism and other psychiatric disorders, according to a controversial review in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

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Vulnerable age

by  /  15 February 2010

A new report adds to the wave of research on autism risk that’s shifting the focus from older fathers to older mothers.

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Culture shock

by  /  12 February 2010

Here’s a remarkable statistic you may not have heard: white children are two to three times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than are their Hispanic peers.

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Rare deletions on chromosome 16 tie autism to obesity

by  /  10 February 2010

Individuals who carry a large and rare deletion on chromosome 16 that is associated with autism are likely to have developmental delays, be obese or both, according to two studies published last week in Nature.

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Tuberous sclerosis linked to brain cell migration

by  /  8 February 2010

The TSC2 gene, mutations in which cause tuberous sclerosis complex, is needed for budding nerve fibers to find their proper targets in the brain, according to a mouse study published in Nature Neuroscience.

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Variants in trust hormone receptor up the risk for autism

by  /  1 February 2010

Genetic variations that tweak the brain’s release of oxytocin — a hormone involved in social bonding and establishing trust — may increase the risk of developing autism or traits of the disorder, according to three new studies published in the past few months.

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Super-cool synapses

by  /  1 February 2010

A chilling new technique shows the intricate and coordinated activity of previously mysterious pieces of the synapse, the all-important junction between neurons that allows cells to talk to each other.

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January 2010

First drug for autism enters final stage of testing

by  /  28 January 2010

A large clinical trial to test the first drug specifically designed to treat autism is under way at 12 sites across the United States.

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Early intervention yields big benefits for children with autism

by  /  20 January 2010

An early intervention method called the Early Start Denver Model can help children with autism improve their language and behavioral skills, and raise their intelligence quotients, according to a study published in Pediatrics.

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