Author: Autism Today News.

By Nikki Main Science Reporter For Dailymail.Com Published: 17:11 BST, 5 September 2024 | Updated: 18:41 BST, 5 September 2024 Scientists have identified a specific food that could reduce the risk of autism in children if consumed during pregnancy.A new study backed by National Institutes of Health found consuming fish at least once a month when pregnant drops the chances by 20 percent. The team suggested that consuming fish during pregnancy can reduce the risks of a child being diagnosed with autism and lower the chance of them developing autism-related traits later in life. That may be due to fish having natural omega-3 fatty…

The more we learn about autism, the more egregious our old misconceptions seem. New research conducted on mice shows how male and female brains may be equally prone to autism, adding to evidence suggesting the condition has been significantly underestimated in women. The findings represent an urgent need to include male and female subjects in studies of autism spectrum disorder ( ASD), says a team led by neuroscientist Manish Kumar Tripathi of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Historically, autism has been thought of, studied as, treated, and diagnosed as a primarily male disorder. Boys are significantly more likely to be…

Kirsty Orton didn’t mind whether her baby was autistic or not – she just wanted her 12-month-old to enjoy being with his mummy: to notice her when she came into the room. To meet her eye when she talked to him and to be able to communicate.“All I wanted to do was be able to connect and bond with Fynn,” she said. “But when your baby looks everywhere else in the room except at you and stays in their own zone, like you’re completely unimportant to them, it’s upsetting in a way that I struggle to put into words.”Orton reiterates…

(SACRAMENTO) Researchers in the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences have received a grant to study the role of the cerebellum in autism. “We need a more holistic understanding of the brain circuits that drive autism,” said Alex Nord, an associate professor of neurobiology, physiology and behavior, and a researcher at the Center for Neuroscience and the UC Davis MIND Institute. “The cerebellum is a key component that has been largely overlooked until recently.” Nord partnered with Diasynou Fioravante, also an associate professor of neurobiology, physiology and behavior and Center for Neuroscience researcher. They received an R21 grant from the…

More than 5.4 million adults in the U.S. have autism. That’s about the populations of Los Angeles and Phoenix combined. Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a developmental disability that affects how a person experiences the world around them. If this definition sounds broad, there’s a reason for that. Autism manifests in many different ways. “ASD is characterized by deficits in reciprocal social interactions, restricted interest, and repetitive behaviors,” says Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor Ivan Iossifov. “It’s a very prevalent disorder, with one in a hundred girls and even more boys diagnosed.” Despite its prevalence, there’s still…

(Photo credit: Getty Images) DALLAS – May 23, 2024 – A new study focused on the gene tied to a rare form of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) called FOXP1 syndrome offers hope that gene therapy might be able to help patients with this condition. Genevieve Konopka, Ph.D., is Professor of Neuroscience and an Investigator in the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute at UT Southwestern. Dr. Konopka is a Jon Heighten Scholar in Autism Research and holds the Townsend Distinguished Chair in Research on Autism Spectrum Disorders. In a study published in Science Advances, researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center found that using gene…

Culturing BCOs from human iPSCs. Credit: Molecular Autism (2024). DOI: 10.1186/s13229-024-00602-8 Some children with autism experience profound, lifelong difficulties like developmental delay, social struggles and even the inability to speak. Others experience more mild symptoms that improve with time. The disparity in outcomes has been a mystery to scientists, until now. A new study, published in Molecular Autism by researchers at University of California San Diego, is the first to shed light on the matter. Among its findings: The biological basis for these two subtypes of autism develops in utero. Researchers used blood-based stem cells from 10 toddlers, ages 1…

The onus is often on researchers from high-income countries to start these conversations. Indeed, because of the skewed power dynamics, their collaborators may not feel comfortable voicing a critique or raising questions. Lauren Franz, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and global health at Duke University, notes that scientists from high-income countries can also do self-checks by looking at where their global south colleagues are included as authors on publications and provide opportunities for first authorship. They can also interrogate their findings’ local relevance, impact and potential implementation. Franz, who has led projects tailoring early autism interventions in Africa,…

The term “profound autism” describes autistic people who need around-the-clock supervision and support with activities of daily living. The Lancet Commission on the Future of Care and Clinical Research in Autism coined the term in 2021 to address the unique challenges and needs of a swath of the autism spectrum that is underrepresented in research. But putting the definition to good use has proved challenging. Although the Lancet commission stated that most people with profound autism have intellectual disability, minimal language or both, researchers have relied almost exclusively on measures of cognitive and verbal abilities. What’s more, those measures vary…

Scientists may have confirmed a theory about the origins of autism by creating miniature, 3D replicas of human brains.These tiny brains, derived from the stem cells of toddlers, were grown to show what the childrens’ brains would have looked like as they developed in the womb.In the new study, published May 25 in the journal Molecular Autism, scientists drew stem cells from the blood of 10 toddlers with autism and six toddlers without the disorder. At the time, the kids were between 1 and 2 years old. Using growth-inducing chemicals, the researchers grew “minibrains,” or brain organoids, from these stem…