Autism Spectrum Disorders

Drug treatment corrects autism symptoms in mouse model

Autism results from abnormal cell communication. Testing a new theory, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have used a newly discovered function of an old drug to restore cell communications ...

Autism spectrum disorders created Mar 13, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (16) | comments 12 | with audio podcast

BPA may affect the developing brain by disrupting gene regulation

Environmental exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), a widespread chemical found in plastics and resins, may suppress a gene vital to nerve cell function and to the development of the central nervous system, according ...

Medical research created Feb 25, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

25 new autism-related gene variants discovered

Genetics researchers have identified 25 additional copy number variations (CNVs)—missing or duplicated stretches of DNA—that occur in some patients with autism. These CNVs, say the researchers, are "high impact": although ...

Genetics created Jan 14, 2013 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Impaired coordination of brain activity in autism involves local, as well as long-range, signaling

A study based at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) finds that the local functional connectivity of the brain – the extent to which the activity of within a small brain region ...

Autism spectrum disorders created Jan 14, 2013 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers provide definitive proof for receptor's role in synapse development

Jackson Laboratory researchers led by Associate Professor Zhong-wei Zhang, Ph.D., have provided direct evidence that a specific neurotransmitter receptor is vital to the process of pruning synapses in the brains of newborn ...

Neuroscience created Dec 31, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Neuroscientists find excessive protein synthesis linked to autistic-like behaviors

Autistic-like behaviors can be partially remedied by normalizing excessive levels of protein synthesis in the brain, a team of researchers has found in a study of laboratory mice. The findings, which appear in the latest ...

Autism spectrum disorders created Dec 23, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Genomic 'hotspots' offer clues to causes of autism, other disorders

An international team, led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has discovered that "random" mutations in the genome are not quite so random after all. Their study, ...

Genetics created Dec 20, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Fragile X protein linked to nearly 100 genes involved in autism

Doctors have known for many years that patients with fragile X syndrome, the most common form of inherited intellectual disability, are often also diagnosed with autism. But little has been known about how the two diagnoses ...

Genetics created Dec 12, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers uncover a crucial link between protein synthesis and autism spectrum disorders

Researchers from McGill University and the University of Montreal have identified a crucial link between protein synthesis and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which can bolster new therapeutic avenues. Regulation of protein ...

Autism spectrum disorders created Nov 21, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Uncovering secrets of how intellect and behavior emerge during childhood

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have shown that a single protein plays an oversized role in intellectual and behavioral development. The scientists found that mutations in a single ...

Genetics created Nov 08, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New targeted drug for treating fragile X syndrome, potentially autism, is effective

An investigational compound that targets the core symptoms of fragile X syndrome is effective for addressing the social withdrawal and challenging behaviors characteristic of the condition, making it the first such discovery ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Sep 19, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Autistic adults have unreliable neural responses, study finds

Autism is a disorder well known for its complex changes in behavior—including repeating actions over and over and having difficulty with social interactions and language. Current approaches to understanding ...

Neuroscience created Sep 19, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Study: Common gene mutation affects kids with autism spectrum disorders

(Medical Xpress)—Over the past decade, researchers have made great strides in identifying genes that lead to an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which result in a continuum of social deficits, communication ...

Autism spectrum disorders created Sep 14, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Common nutritional supplement offers promise in treatment of unique form of autism with epilepsy

An international team of researchers, led by scientists at the University of California, San Diego and Yale University schools of medicine, have identified a form of autism with epilepsy that may potentially be treatable ...

Autism spectrum disorders created Sep 06, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Low-dose sedative alleviates autistic-like behavior in mice with Dravet syndrome mutation

A low dose of the sedative clonazepam alleviated autistic-like behavior in mice with a mutation that causes Dravet syndrome in humans, University of Washington researchers have shown.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Aug 22, 2012 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast


The term "autism spectrum" is often used to describe disorders that are currently classified as pervasive developmental disorders. Pervasive developmental disorders include autism, Asperger syndrome, Childhood disintegrative disorder, Rett syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. These disorders are typically characterized by social deficits, communication difficulties, stereotyped or repetitive behaviors and interests, and/or cognitive delays. Although these diagnoses share some common features, individuals with these disorders are thought to be "on the spectrum" because of differences in severity across these domains.

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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