New research provides evidence that wiring in the brains of children with autism differs from typically developing children as early as six months of age, according to a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry on Friday. "This is the earliest study of brain development using neuro-imaging," says Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D. "By six months of age, even before the symptoms [of autism] emerge, the brain networks that connect different brain regions do not develop correctly." Dawson is not only one of the study authors, she's also the Chief Science Officer of the advocacy group Autism Speaks, which, along with the National Institutes of Health and the Simons Foundation, funded the research. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, along with researchers from other locations of the Infant Brain Imaging Study (IBIS) network, studied 92 babies who were all considered to be at high-risk for developing autism because they had older siblings with the neurodevelopmental disorder. Currently, about one in 110 children in the United States has autism, according to the latest CDC statistics. All 92 infants underwent a type of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan called diffusion tensor imaging. MRIs do not use radiation and therefore … Continue reading →

Stroke patients could be helped to hospital quicker with a new smartphone app. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh are set to release an application called Fast which identifies key symptoms of a stroke. It is hoped the app will help diagnosis, treatment and prevention in the future. Funding for the app has been provided by Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland (CHSS) whose research shows that stroke is the third-biggest killer in Scotland, behind heart disease and cancer. Fast asks users if the person can smile, can lift both arms and if their speech is slurred. If all these symptoms are present, the user is told to call 999. The app, available on iPhone and Android handsets, points to different symptoms and indicators, while providing instant access to nursing staff and hospitals on demand. David Clark, chief executive of CHSS, said: "Around 12,000 people will have a stroke each year in Scotland. "We hope that our app will help people to recognise the symptoms of stroke and guide them through the process of calling for help. "In a typical stroke, you lose two million brain cells a minute so it is vital that you're treated as quickly as possible." The … Continue reading →

Biomedical research lost one of its titans with the death of Marshall Nirenberg, the Nobel Prize-winning biochemist who, with the help of colleagues at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and elsewhere, cracked the genetic code in 1961. His experiment showed how RNA transmits encoded information in DNA and directs the building of proteins (the National Museum of American History owns a copy of his chart of 64 3-letter combinations describing all possible amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, and the NIH has an excellent virtual exhibit about Nirenberg's work). Nirenberg was the first federal employee to win the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. It made him an instant celebrity. While tempted by job offers in academe and elsewhere -- they were surely his for the asking -- Nirenberg ended up spending his entire career at the NIH. He said he just couldn't see giving up the freedom they gave him to pursue his research. I had the privilege of meeting this quietly modest man a couple of times, as NIH is just up the pike from the museum in downtown D.C. That's Rockville Pike, the spine of the so-called I-270 biotech corridor, but Nirenberg worked there long before … Continue reading →

The behavioral symptoms that define disorders on the autism spectrum sometimes start to emerge as early as 12 months of age. But often, a firm diagnosis is not made until a child is 2 or older. What if you could predict autism when a child was just 6 months old? New research using sophisticated brain scans suggests this may one day be possible, enabling high-risk infants to be targeted for early intervention and treatment. The research, conducted by scientists at seven institutions, including Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, was published online last week in the American Journal of Psychiatry. The authors followed several dozen children from 6 months of age through age 2, tracking their behavioral development while also periodically administering a special kind of MRI called diffusion tensor imaging. The children were selected because they had an older sibling with a diagnosis on the autism spectrum, and thus were at a higher risk of developing such a disorder themselves. The scientists said they found a significantly different pattern of brain development in the children who went on to display autismlike symptoms at age 2. These children started out with higher scores of fractional anisotropy - a measure that reflects the … Continue reading →