The Autism Consortium, an innovative research, clinical and family collaboration dedicated to catalyzing research and enhancing clinical care for families with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), announced today that the results of its comparison study of genetic testing methods for autism spectrum disorders is available from the journal Pediatrics through early online release in their eFirst pages and will appear in the journal’s April issue…

Autism and mercury advocacy organization SafeMinds regrets today’s ruling by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims against three families who argued that vaccines which contained the mercury-based preservative thimerosal contributed to their child’s autism. The denial of reasonable compensation to families was based on inadequate vaccine safety science and poorly designed and highly controversial epidemiology studies supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…

Thousands will unite for autism at the 8th annual Los Angeles Walk Now for Autism Speaks at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, Saturday, April 24, 2010. Powered by volunteers and families with loved ones on the autism spectrum, this fundraising effort generates vital funds for autism research, awareness and family services. Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disorder, with 1% of the population affected…

What: More than 100 neurologists from 40 states will be in Washington, DC, March 8-9, 2010, for “Neurology on the Hill,” an event hosted by the American Academy of Neurology to educate lawmakers about the need for health care reform changes that consider neurologists and the patients they treat, including people with Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, migraine, concussion and autism…

Angelman Syndrome is a rare but serious genetic disorder that causes a constellation of developmental problems in affected children, including mental retardation, lack of speech, and in some cases, autism. Over a decade ago, researchers found that AS was caused by mutation in a single gene, but no one had been able to explain how this defect resulted in the debilitating neurological symptoms of the disease…

A new study by researchers from the University of Miami shows that maternal sensitivity may influence language development among children who go on to develop autism. Although parenting styles are not considered as a cause for autism, this report examines how early parenting can promote resiliency in this population. The study entitled, “A Pilot Study of Maternal Sensitivity in the Context of Emergent Autism,” is published online this month and will appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders…

A paper published online in Molecular Cell proposes that Methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) impacts the entire genome in neurons, rather than acting as a regulator of specific genes. Mutations in MeCP2 cause the autism spectrum disorder Rett Syndrome as well as some cases of neuropsychiatric problems including autism, schizophrenia and learning disabilities. The discovery of MeCP2’s global reach was made in the laboratory of Adrian Bird, Ph.D. of the University of Edinburgh…

A genetic link between schizophrenia and autism is enabling researchers to study the effectiveness of drugs used to treat both illnesses. Dr Steve Clapcote from the University of Leeds’s Faculty of Biological Sciences will be analysing behaviour displayed by mice with a genetic mutation linked to schizophrenia and autism and seeing how antipsychotic drugs affect their behavioural abnormalities. “We don’t fully understand how the drugs used to treat schizophrenia and some symptoms of autism work,” explained Dr Clapcote…

At a press briefing, Saturday, Feb. 20, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, a Northwestern University neuroscientist argued that music training has profound effects that shape the sensory system and should be a mainstay of K-12 education. “Playing an instrument may help youngsters better process speech in noisy classrooms and more accurately interpret the nuances of language that are conveyed by subtle changes in the human voice,” says Nina Kraus, Hugh Knowles Professor of Neurobiology, Physiology and Communication Sciences at Northwestern University…

Neuroresearchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and their colleagues have tied the human aversion to losing money to a specific structure in the brainthe amygdala. The finding, described in the latest online issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), offers insight into economic behavior, and also into the role of the brain’s amygdalae, two almond-shaped clusters of tissue located in the medial temporal lobes. The amygdala registers rapid emotional reactions and is implicated in depression, anxiety, and autism……..