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Autism spectrum disorder affects about 1.5 percent of all children, but its exact cause remains unknown, and diagnosis requires a multidisciplinary team of doctors. Previous research has revealed certain differences in metabolic processes between children on the autism spectrum and neurotypical children. However, researchers have struggled to translate these differences into new diagnostic tools. In the new study, Juergen Hahn and Daniel Howsmon of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, and colleagues present a method to identify a child as being on the autism spectrum based on concentrations of specific substances found in a blood sample. These substances are produced by metabolic processes known as the folate-dependent one-carbon (FOCM) metabolism and transulfuration (TS) pathways, both of which are altered in children with autism. The scientists used blood sample data, collected at Arkansas Children's Hospital, from 83 children with autism and 76 neurotypical children...

The discovery provides further evidence of the crucial role vitamin D plays in brain development, said lead researcher Professor Darryl Eyles, from UQ's Queensland Brain Institute. "Our study used the most widely accepted developmental model of autism in which affected mice behave abnormally and show deficits in social interaction, basic learning and stereotyped behaviours," Professor Eyles said. "We found that pregnant females treated with active vitamin D in the equivalent of the first trimester of pregnancy produced offspring that did not develop these deficits." In human studies, QBI researchers recently found a link between pregnant women with low Vitamin D levels and the increased likelihood of having a child with autistic traits. Autism -- or autism spectrum disorder -- describes lifelong developmental disabilities including difficulty or inability to communicate with others and interact socially. Sun exposure is the major source of vitamin D...

This new information could become valuable as therapeutic treatments for Fragile X syndrome -- the most common autism-related disorder which results in intellectual disabilities and impacts one in every 4,000 males and one in every 8,000 females -- are still being developed in clinical trials. Michael Akins, PhD, an assistant professor in Drexel's College of Arts and Sciences, led a team that found structures called Fragile X granules in the part of the brain that controls memory, the hippocampus, well into maturity in both rat and human specimens. The granules , which Akins helped discover in 2009, are thought to contribute to Fragile X syndrome when they become decoupled from a gene called FMRP (Fragile X mental retardation protein) that is mutated in Fragile X patients. While Fragile X granules were found in the brains of adult rats and humans, they seemed to disappear in mice when they reached maturity. "It's intriguing that this disease-related gene has differ...

A new study by Waisman Center researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison looks at the daily experiences of these parents to provide a more detailed picture of the strengths and vulnerabilities of couples raising a child with ASD. "I think we can use these findings to develop more effective therapies and strategies to address potential challenges in couple relationships for parents of children with ASD," says Sigan Hartley, lead author of the new study, published this month in the  Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders . Previous findings have shown that, on average, couples with a child with ASD have higher risks of divorce and lower satisfaction with their marriages when compared to couples with a typically developing child. "What has been missing is research that really gets at the details of what is actually happening in the day-to-day lives of these couples," says Hartley, a Waisman Center researcher and 100 Women Chair in Human Ecology a...

In a study published in the journal  Molecular Psychiatry , researchers at the University of Cyprus, University of Cambridge, University of California, San Diego, and Stanford University used rats and mice to help map the complex biological cascade caused by the mother's immune response, which may lead to important consequences. Maternal infections during pregnancy are a known risk factor for abnormal fetal development. Most strikingly, this has been seen during the recent emergence of Zika virus, which led to babies being born with an abnormally small head and brain (known as ' microcephaly '). In the case of Zika, the virus has its impact by directly attacking fetal brain tissue. However, for most other infections, such as influenza, the infectious agent typically has a more indirect impact on fetal development. Large population-based studies have previously shown that a variety of maternal infections during pregnancy are associated with small increases in the risk...

For a mouse, that ability can make the difference between life and death. Neither a faint screech nor a tiny black speck in the sky might trigger any worry, but the two together strongly suggest a hawk is in the air. It matters in daily human life, too. An incoming call on a cell phone can be more noticeable when it is signaled visually and with sound, for example. "It's really important to understand how all of our senses interact to give us a whole picture of the world," said study lead author Torrey Truszkowski, a neuroscience doctoral student at Brown University. "If something is super salient in the visual system -- a bright flash of light -- you don't need the multisensory mechanism. If there is only a small change in light levels, you might ignore it -- but if in the same area of visual space you also have a piece of auditory information coming in, then you are more likely to notice that and decide if you need to do something about that." To und...