Picking up on innuendo and social cues is a central component of engaging in conversation, but people with autism often struggle to determine another person’s intentions in a social interaction. New research from Carnegie Mellon University sheds light on the neural mechanisms that are responsible for such social difficulties in autism, and on the workings of these social brain mechanisms in all of us. [continue reading…]
Many cases of autism are caused by genetic defects that disrupt the brain’s ability to learn, according to groundbreaking research that promises to lead to new therapies.
A set of six genes that are strongly linked to brain development in the first year of life have been found to be abnormal in many autistic children, suggesting a neurological pathway that may underlie a significant proportion of cases. Link to read more
Source: The Times
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). The mutations may disrupt specific genes that are vital to the developing brain, and which are turned on and off by experience-triggered neuronal activity. [continue reading…]
New evidence shows that the brains of adults with autism are “wired” differently from people without the disorder, and this abnormal pattern of connectivity may be responsible for the social impairments that are characteristic of autism.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, a team of researchers affiliated with the University of Washington’s Autism Center also found that the most severely socially impaired subjects in the study exhibited the most abnormal pattern of connectivity among a network of brain regions involved in face processing. [continue reading…]
Children with autism and ADHD may soon get anxiety relief from a novel “deep-pressure” vest developed by Brian Mullen at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The vest, which can also be used for adults with mental illness, delivers a “portable hug” called deep pressure touch stimulation (DPTS). [continue reading…]
