Yale Autism Study Draws Criticism for Tormenting Toddlers
Research on Emotional Regulation Draws Ethic Concerns A new study from Yale University titled, “Attend Less, Fear More: Elevated Distress to Social Threat in Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder” sparked a firestorm of criticism from thousands of people on social media. The unusual research investigated how toddlers (42 with autism and 22 neurotypical) responded to […]
Reduced Gut Mucus May Contribute to Autism
Mucus Defends Against Bad Bacteria in the Gastrointestinal Tract Bacterial imbalances of the gastrointestinal tract and other gut disorders have long been associated with autism. Although the reasons for these gastrointestinal problems have remained unclear. Now, recent research out of RMIT University in Australia suggests that changes in gut mucus may play a role in […]
New Longitudinal Study Shows Big Brains Linked to Autism
Rate of White Matter Development During Childhood Also Linked to ASD Two new studies from UC Davis’ MIND Institute point to possible subtypes of autism associated with brain size and white matter development. The first research involved a longitudinal study that followed the same children from diagnosis to adolescence. The study’s authors used magnetic resonance […]
Adolescents with Autism Experience IQ Increases with Age
Long-Term Study Shows Average Increase of 7.48 IQ points between ages 12 and 23 IQ tests are standardized for each age group. For the general population, scores typically do not change over time. However, a recent British study showed that IQs rise with age for individuals with autism. This over a decade-long study involved 126 […]
Similar Social Cognition Impairments Found in Schizophrenia and Autism
Matching Differences Detected in Emotion Processing and Theory of Mind Deficits in social cognition are characteristics found in both schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Historically, these two different disorders have been examined separately and evaluated by contrasting means. However, a new systematic review and meta-analysis of 36 studies compared social cognition […]
Maternal Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Autism in Male Offspring
Findings from an Australian Study May Explain Why ASD is More Common in Boys than Girls A new study published in Molecular Autism suggests that maternal vitamin D deficiency could be the reason that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is more than four times more common in boys than girls. Researchers from the Queensland Brain Institute […]
