Latest MIND Institute Stories
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Researchers from the Yale School of Medicine and the MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis claim to have discovered a new method of determining a child’s potential risk of becoming autistic. According to CBS News reporter Ryan Jaslow, the researchers report doctors may be able to detect clues about a child’s risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by examining the placenta at the time of birth....
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online An older, broad-spectrum antibiotic has shown “modest” yet meaningful improvements in general behavior, mood and anxiety for children suffering from fragile X syndrome (FXS), claims a study published in this month’s edition of the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics. For the study, researchers from the University of California-Davis Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (MIND) Institute...
Penn State Science — Eberly College of Science Children with autism have increased levels of genetic change in regions of the genome prone to DNA rearrangements, so called "hotspots," according to a research discovery to be published in the print edition of the journal Human Molecular Genetics. The research indicates that these genetic changes come in the form of an excess of duplicated DNA segments in hotspot regions and may affect the chances that a child will develop autism -- a...
According to commentary by Autism Speaks Chief Science Officer featured in Archives of General Psychiatry Autism Speaks Chief Science Officer Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D. describes how the dramatic progress in autism research has paralleled increased recognition of autism's prevalence and financial impact in the December issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry published on line today. "This issue of the journal features three articles on autism," she writes in her editorial. "A decade ago,...
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Early intervention therapy specially designed to improve cognitive and linguistic skills among autistic children as young as 12 months old has been found to be effective in improving their social skills and decreasing symptoms associated with the disorder, according to the results of a new nationwide study. The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), which was developed by Sally Rogers, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and...
Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Poor eye contact. Loss of language skills. These are just a few behavior attributes of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to the National Institute of Health. Scientists at the Rush University Medical Center and the University of California, Davis MIND Institute recently discovered that an investigational compound focusing on the main symptoms of fragile X syndrome is able to help treat social withdrawal. The...
Scientists affiliated with the UC Davis MIND Institute have discovered how a defective gene causes brain changes that lead to the atypical social behavior characteristic of autism. The research offers a potential target for drugs to treat the condition. Earlier research already has shown that the gene is defective in children with autism, but its effect on neurons in the brain was not known. The new studies in mice show that abnormal action of just this one gene disrupted energy use in...
MIAMI, July 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- WHO: National Fragile X Foundation, fragilex.org WHAT: Press Conference on Major Announcements Related to Premutation and Autism WHEN: Thursday, July 26, 3:20 p.m. WHERE: Intercontinental Hotel, Concourse II Room, 100 Chopin Plaza, Miami, FL 33131 SPEAKERS: Masha Mailick Seltzer, PhD, Director, University of Wisconsin Waisman Center...
A team of UC Davis researchers has found that mothers who had fevers during their pregnancies were more than twice as likely to have a child with autism or developmental delay than were mothers who did not have a fever or who took medication to counter its effect. Sacramento, Calif. (PRWEB) May 23, 2012 A team of UC Davis researchers has found that mothers who had fevers during their pregnancies were more than twice as likely to have a child with autism or developmental delay than were...
New research from UC Davis and Washington State University shows that PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, launch a cellular chain of events that leads to an overabundance of dendrites -- the filament-like projections that conduct electrochemical signals between neurons -- and disrupts normal patterns of neuronal connections in the brain. "Dendrite growth and branching during early development is a finely orchestrated process, and the presence of certain PCBs confuses the conductor of that...
