An administration of testosterone under the tongues of volunteers negatively affected their ability to “read” the minds of others, an indication of empathy. Interestingly, this effect is predicted by a fetal marker of prenatal testosterone, the 2D:4D ratio. The study, therefore, provides further support for the androgen theory of autism. The researchers, from Utrecht and […]
Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced researcher who claimed a link between MMR vaccine and autism, planned a secret multi-national business offering alternative vaccines and therapeutic services based on his now-discredited research. The plans are revealed by investigative journalist Brian Deer in the current issue of the British Medical Journal. Drawing on documents obtained under the Freedom […]
IVF and other assisted fertility treatments may be solving one problem by creating another, suggests a researcher from Tel Aviv University who found a strong link between IVF and mild to moderate cases of autism. IVF has been in the spotlight recently with another study linking assisted reproduction technologies, such as IVF, to congenital malformations. […]
Scientists have identified a way to detect autism with a blood sample and have discovered that drugs which affect the methylation state (so-called “DNA tagging”) of genes could reverse autism’s effects. The researchers hope the new study, appearing in theFASEB Journal, will lead to therapies designed to address specific deficiencies that are caused by autism. […]
New research has found that in fragile X syndrome – a genetic defect that is the best-known cause of autism – there is delayed development of the sensory cortex, the part of the brain that responds to touch, which researchers speculate may trigger a domino effect and cause further problems with the wiring of the […]
In research that may lead to new therapies for children with autism and Asperger’s syndrome, researchers from Northwestern University have found the first biological evidence that musical training enhances an individual’s ability to recognize emotion in speech. Reporting the findings in the European Journal of Neuroscience, the study’s lead author Dana Strait explained that the […]
The journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine has this month published a new study by Cornell University researchers that provides evidence of a rainfall-related environmental trigger for autism among genetically vulnerable children. “This analysis is an important first step towards identifying a specific environmental trigger, or triggers, for autism,” said the study’s lead author […]
Scientists from Wake Forest University School of Medicine (WF) have discovered that in autistic individuals, connections between brain cells may be deficient within single regions, and not just between regions, as was previously believed. Using magnetoencephalography brain imaging technology to measure brain electrical activity, UF’s Tony Wilson administered a test called the 40 hertz auditory […]
The annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology has been told that oxytocin may have significant positive effects on adult autism patients. The study examined the effects of oxytocin – sometimes referred to as the trust drug – on repetitive behaviors and aspects of social cognition in adults with autism. Researcher Eric Hollander, from […]
