4 September 2012

A Newsletter from the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative

NEWS Diagnosis eludes many girls with autism, study says Chromosome 15 duplications common in autism VIEWPOINT Postmortem brains crucial for autism research IN BRIEF Cognition and behavior: Early words improve autism outcome Genetics: Study finds risk gene for autism in males Clinical research: Fragile X unlinked from intelligence TOOLBOX New device rapidly identifies worms with mutations BLOG Racial Care Life's blood

NEWS

Diagnosis eludes many girls with autism, study says

Girls are less likely to be diagnosed with autism than boys are, unless they also have intellectual or behavioral problems, according to a study published 26 June in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

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Chromosome 15 duplications common in autism

About 1 in 500 children referred to genetic testing for undefined developmental delay, intellectual disability, or autism have duplications of the 15q11-13 chromosomal region, according to a new analysis. That makes the region the second most common large genetic alteration linked to autism.

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VIEWPOINT

Postmortem brains crucial for autism research

Postmortem brains from individuals with autism allow researchers to look at patterns of gene expression in different cell types, and to understand the interplay among neurons and neural circuits, says Dan Arking.

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IN BRIEF

Cognition and behavior: Early words improve autism outcome

Children with autism who spoke their first words before 2 years of age may have better outcomes than those who talked later, according to a study published 7 June in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

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Genetics: Study finds risk gene for autism in males

Mutations in AFF2, a gene located on the X chromosome, are about five times as common in men with autism as in controls, according to a study published 10 July in Human Molecular Genetics.

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Clinical research: Fragile X unlinked from intelligence

Women who have intelligence quotients in the normal range may nevertheless have fragile X syndrome, often described as the most common inherited form of mental retardation, according to a case study published 27 June in Molecular Autism.

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TOOLBOX

New device rapidly identifies worms with mutations

A new tool can sort through a population of mutant nematodes and identify those with altered neuronal connections, according to a study published 19 August in Nature Methods.

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BLOG

Racial care
Parents of minority children with autism are more likely to report that their children have poor quality of care than are parents of minority children with other developmental disabilities.

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Life's blood
The first approved stem cell trial for autism will soon be under way. Is there a rationale for testing stem cells to improve symptoms of the disorder?

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