Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Couple who meet at work have autistic babies? - The Times of India

Couple who meet at work have autistic babies? - The Times of India: Previous studies have suggested that the condition is more prevalent among people who are 'systemisers' - those who do jobs relating to systems and how they work, such as computer programmes or machines.
People who 'systemise' are often obsessed with making sense of complex topics, and can achieve great things, but have difficulty empathising with people.
Professor Baron-Cohen has said that being a systemiser may be a symptom of an 'extreme male brain' due to high levels of testosterone.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

CDPH Publishes Study on Autism and Maternal and Paternal Age

CDPH Publishes Study on Autism and Maternal and Paternal Age: Reviewing a larger population than in any other study of its kind, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has found that as parents age their risk of giving birth to a child with autism increases modestly.

Published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the new CDPH study shows that for each 10-year increase in a mother's age, the risk of autism increased by about 38 percent. For each 10-year increase in a father's age, the risk of autism increased by about 22 percent.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Neurofeedback and Autism

Click on the link below for scholarly articles.

Click here

Friday, November 11, 2011

Airway abnormality may point to autism - USATODAY.com

Airway abnormality may point to autism - USATODAY.com: While examining children with autism who came in for a persistent cough, Dr. Barbara Stewart used a bronchoscope -- which can see down into the windpipe and the airways that branch into the lungs -- and noticed something different about those branches.
In a typical lung, the windpipe, or trachea, branches into two main stems. From there, airways branch off the stems much like tree branches in a random, asymmetrical pattern, said Stewart, a pediatric pulmonologist at Nemours Children's Clinic in Pensacola, Fla.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Autistic children have 'too many brain cells in region for emotional development' | Mail Online

Autistic children have 'too many brain cells in region for emotional development' Mail Online: Children with autism appear to have too many cells in a key area of the brain needed for communication and emotional development, scientists said today.The find helps to explain why young children with autism often develop brains that are larger than normal.
The study by U.S. researchers suggests the condition starts in the womb because brain cells in this area known as the prefrontal cortex typically develop during the second trimester of pregnancy.