MRIs show a brain anomaly in nearly 70 percent of babies at high risk of developing the condition who go on to be diagnosed, laying the groundwork for a predictive aid for pediatricians and the search for a potential treatment.
This first-of-its-kind study used MRIs to image the brains of infants, and then researchers used brain measurements and a computer algorithm to accurately predict autism before symptoms set in.
UNC researchers find that the bigger the differences in brain activity related to emotion regulation, the more severe the autism. Gabriel Dichter, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and psychology was the paper's senior author.
C.J. Malanga discovered that three specific drugs affect three different kinds of neurotransmitter receptors that all seem to play roles in Fragile X Syndrome.
The First Year Inventory, a 10-minute questionnaire filled out by parents after a child’s first birthday, shows promise in identifying children who are later diagnosed with autism or other developmental problems.
New research led by Patrick F. Sullivan, MD, FRANZCP, a psychiatric geneticist at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, points to an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders among individuals whose parents or siblings have been diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
