Science News about Autism
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Science News about Autism
- Citalopram No Better Than Placebo Treatment for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
- June 01, 2009 • Press Release
Citalopram, a medication commonly prescribed to children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), was no more effective than a placebo at reducing repetitive behaviors, according to researchers funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and other NIH institutes. The study was published in the June 2009 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. - Autism Skews Developing Brain with Synchronous Motion and Sound
- March 31, 2009 • Press Release
Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) tend to stare at people’s mouths rather than their eyes. Now, an NIH-funded study in 2-year-olds with the social deficit disorder suggests why they might find mouths so attractive: lip-syncing — the exact match of lip motion and speech sound. - Rising to the Challenge: NIH Will Use $60 Million in Recovery Act Funds to Support Strategic Autism Research
- March 24, 2009 • Press Release
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will commit roughly $60 million from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to support autism research and meet objectives set forth earlier this year by a federal advisory committee. The Request for Applications is the largest funding opportunity for research on autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to date and combined with other ARRA initiatives represents a surge in NIH’s commitment to finding the causes and treatments for autism. - NIMH Grants Focus on Innovative Autism Research
- December 30, 2008 • Science Update
Autism is a complex brain disorder involving communication and social difficulties as well as repetitive behavior or limited interests. - Lack of Eye Contact May Predict Level of Social Disability in Two-Year Olds with Autism
- October 23, 2008 • Science Update
By age 2, children with autism show unusual patterns of eye contact compared with typically developing children. - Study Examines the Prevalence and Impact of Gastrointestinal Problems in Children with Autism
- September 24, 2008 • Science Update
A new study examines the characteristics of children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) who also have gastrointestinal problems. - Antipsychotic Does Not Harm—and May Improve—Cognitive Skills in Children with Autism
- August 27, 2008 • Science Update
The atypical antipsychotic medication risperidone (Risperdal) does not negatively affect cognitive skills of children with autism, and may lead to improvements, according to an NIMH-funded study published recently in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. - “Signatures” of Errant Gene Expression in Autism Eyed for Diagnostic Test
- August 01, 2008 • Science Update
Researchers have launched an effort to detect profiles of gene expression associated with autism that could some day form the basis of a diagnostic test for the disorder. - Common Mechanisms May Underlie Autism’s Seemingly Diverse Mutations
- July 10, 2008 • Press Release
Many of the seemingly disparate mutations recently discovered in autism may share common underlying mechanisms, say researchers supported in part by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). - New Grant Supports Stem Cell-Derived Model of Autism-Related Illness
- June 26, 2008 • Science Update
For the first time, researchers are developing a test tube model of Rett syndrome, a debilitating autism-like illness, in neurons derived from human embryonic stem cells. - NIMH Funds Research to Find Best Treatments for Children with Autism and ADHD Symptoms
- June 02, 2008 • Science Update
A new NIMH-funded study will help guide the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). - Spontaneous Mutations Rife in Non-Familial Schizophrenia
- May 30, 2008 • Press Release
People with schizophrenia from families with no history of the illness were found to harbor eight times more spontaneous mutations – most in pathways affecting brain development – than healthy controls, in a study supported in part the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). By contrast, no spontaneous mutations were found in people with schizophrenia who had family histories of the illness. - Journal Highlights Effectiveness of Research Based Psychotherapies for Youth
- April 15, 2008 • Science Update
Reviews of the current research on psychosocial and behavioral therapies, or psychotherapies, for children and adolescents found a number of "well established" and "probably efficacious" treatments for many mental disorders. For example, six were "probably efficacious" for anxiety disorders, and two were "well established" for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to scientists funded by NIMH and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, divisions of the National Institutes of Health. - Newly Awarded Autism Centers of Excellence to Further Autism Research
- April 01, 2008 • Press Release
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on April 1, 2008, the latest recipients of the Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) program. - Rates of Rare Mutations Soar Three to Four Times Higher in Schizophrenia
- March 27, 2008 • Press Release
People with schizophrenia have high rates of rare genetic deletions and duplications that likely disrupt the developing brain, according to studies funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. - Autism Gene Scans Converge on Two Suspect Sites, Two Types of Genetic Risk
- March 19, 2008 • Science Update
Four teams of scientists, using resources supported in part by NIMH, have pinpointed two different sites in the genome, each conferring a different type of genetic risk for autism. At one site, risk genes appear to be inherited. At the other, risk stems from spontaneous mutations, not seen in the genetics of the parents. In both examples, evidence suggests the suspect genes are critical for development of brain circuits impaired in autism. - Tomorrow’s Antidepressants: Skip the Serotonin Boost?
- February 14, 2008 • Science Update
New research adds to evidence of potentially better molecular targets in the brain to treat depression and other mental disorders, according to NIMH-funded scientists. - Autism Risk Higher in People with Gene Variant
- January 10, 2008 • Press Release
Scientists have found a variation in a gene that may raise the risk of developing autism, especially when the variant is inherited from mothers rather than fathers. The research was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health. - Study Aims to Develop First Medications for Fragile-X Syndrome, Leading Inherited Cause of Mental Retardation
- December 20, 2007 • Science Update
A new NIMH grant is enabling scientists to begin testing safety and effectiveness of potential medications for fragile-X syndrome, the most common inherited form of mental retardation. No effective medications are available for the disorder. - NIH Funds New Program to Investigate Causes and Treatment of Autism
- October 30, 2007 • Science Update
The National Institutes of Health will intensify its efforts to find the causes of autism and identify new treatments for the disorder, through a new research program. - New Social Neuroscience Grants to Help Unravel Autism, Anxiety Disorders
- October 10, 2007 • Science Update
How genes and the environment shape the brain circuitry underlying social behavior is among the questions being addressed by three newly NIMH-funded studies. - NIMH Funds Additional New Research on Autism
- September 11, 2007 • Science Update
NIMH is funding several new grants that will further our understanding of autism spectrum disorder, which is marked by a pervasive impairment in communicating, expressing emotion, and relating to others socially. - Half of Children With Autism May be Diagnosable Soon After Their First Birthday
- August 10, 2007 • Science Update
About half of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) can be diagnosed soon after their first birthday; others with the disorder may appear to develop normally until that age and then falter or regress during their second year, NIMH-funded researchers have discovered. - Tiny, Spontaneous Gene Mutations May Boost Autism Risk
- March 15, 2007 • Press Release
Tiny gene mutations, each individually rare, pose more risk for autism than had been previously thought, suggests a study funded in part by the National Institute of Mental Health, a component of the National Institutes of Health. - Largest-Ever Search for Autism Genes Reveals New Clues
- February 18, 2007 • Press Release
The largest search for autism genes to date, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has implicated components of the brain’s glutamate chemical messenger system and a previously overlooked site on chromosome 11. - Autism Research Efforts Highlighted in Biological Psychiatry Special Issue
- February 06, 2007 • Science Update
The February 15, 2007 special issue of Biological Psychiatry is dedicated to recent advances in autism research, including many studies funded by the Institute. - New Tests May Help Researchers Detect Genetic Basis For Autism
- January 30, 2007 • Science Update
Researchers have developed a set of behavioral tests in mice that mimic the core features of autism and may prove useful in detecting a genetic basis for the deficits in social interactions and rigid thinking seen in the disorder. - Brain’s Fear Center Likely Shrinks in Autism’s Most Severely Socially Impaired
- December 04, 2006 • Press Release
The brain’s fear hub likely becomes abnormally small in the most severely socially impaired males with autism spectrum disorders, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have discovered. - Gene Linked to Autism in Families with More Than One Affected Child
- October 17, 2006 • Press Release
A version of a gene has been linked to autism in families that have more than one child with the disorder. Inheriting two copies of this version more than doubled a child’s risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder, scientists supported by NIMH and NICHD have discovered. - New NIMH Research Program Launches Autism Trials
- September 07, 2006 • Press Release
NIMH has launched three major clinical studies on autism at its research program on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. - Males with Autism Have Fewer Cells in Brain’s Emotional Memory Hub
- July 26, 2006 • Science Update
Males with autism have fewer cells in a part of the brain that has a key role in emotion and memory, according to NIMH-funded researchers at the University of California, Davis. - NIH Joined by Advocacy Groups to Fund Research on Autism Susceptibility Genes
- October 18, 2005 • Press Release
Five institutes at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and three private autism organizations have formed a consortium to pursue their common goal of understanding a devastating disorder. - International Coalition to Fund Autism Genetics Research
- December 29, 2004 • Press Release
An international public/private partnership of government health agencies and private advocacy organizations has committed more than $21 million for research to identify the genes associated with autism spectrum disorders, a range of developmental disorders that impair communication and other mental abilities. - NIMH Grant to Explore Genetics of Autism
- October 08, 2004 • Press Release
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health, announced this week a 3-year, $3 million grant to Johns Hopkins University to study the genetic factors underlying autism. - Autism Summit Conference
- November 14, 2003 • Press Release
A national conference focusing on the Federal government's role in biomedical autism research, early screening and diagnosis, and improving access to autism services will be held November 19-20, 2003, at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. - NIMH Awards $22.6 Million for Center for Collaborative Research on Mental Disorders
- July 01, 2003 • Press Release
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has funded a five-year, $22.6 million Center for Collaborative Genetic Studies on Mental Disorders at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. - NIH Awards Grants for Six New Autism Research Centers
- May 13, 2003 • Press Release
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded grants to support six new research centers of a major network focusing on the biomedical and behavioral aspects of autism. - Telltale Protein Defects Mark Fragile X Pathways
- February 12, 2003 • Press Release
A team of scientists led by National Institute of Mental Health Health (NIMH) grantees has identified a trove of proteins involved in synaptic plasticity and neuronal growth—some of them likely implicated in mental retardation and perhaps other neurodevelopmental disorders like autism. - NIH Awards Grants for Two New Autism Research Centers
- September 18, 2002 • Press Release
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced grants totaling $19 million to support the first two research centers of a major network of facilities to focus on the biomedical and behavioral aspects of autism. - NIMH Study Finds Anti-Psychotic Medication Useful in Treating Serious Behavioral Problems among Children with Autism
- July 31, 2002 • Press Release
One of a newer class of anti-psychotic medications was successful and well tolerated for the treatment of serious behavioral disturbances associated with autistic disorder in children ages 5 to 17. - $6 Million Grant to Expand Search for Autism Genes
- March 11, 2002 • Press Release
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) today awarded the first installment of an expected $6 million grant over 5 years to researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for major expansion of a collaborative effort to identify autism genes.
