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You may be as friendly as your genes

Researchers found that CD38 and CD157 genes that regulate oxytocin, the supreme human social hormone, are associated with the sociality of young individuals. Why some individuals seek social engagement and friendship while others shy away, may well be dependent on the expression and sequence of two genes in their bodies. A group of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has found that young adults who have higher expression of the CD38 gene as well as differences in CD157 gene sequence are friendlier and more socially adept than others. They have more close friends and show greater social skills. CD38 and CD157 genes regulate the release of oxytocin, the paramount social hormone in humans involved in primary social behaviours such as pair-bonding, mating and child-rearing, to more sophisticated behaviours such as empathy, trust and generosity. This novel study of gene expression (i.e. how much of a particular gene is produced in the body) supports the i...
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People with autism spectrum disorder show neural responses of anxiety on seeing social touch

The autism spectrum is a developmental disorder characterized by difficulties in creating, understanding, and maintaining social relationships . Some 70-80 percent of people with ASD suffer from hypersensitivity or undersensitivity to neural stimulation through the various senses, including sight, touch, and taste. Some parents of children with ASD report that their children stiffen when touched, try to avoid touch, and prefer to be touched on their own terms. Until now, however, researchers did not understand exactly what causes this sensitivity, and above all -- how people with ASD feel when they are exposed to touch. The present study, published in the journal  Autism Research , was authored by Prof. Simone Shamay-Tsoory and doctorate student Leehe Peled-Avron from the Department of Psychology at the University of Haifa. The researchers sought to examine the differences in the neural response to social interaction, including human touch, between people with ASD and people ...
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Discovery fuels hope for Rett syndrome treatment

This is the second compound developed by the Vanderbilt Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery (VCNDD) that relieves Rett syndrome-associated symptoms in mice. The latest findings, reported last week in the journal  Science Translational Medicine , provide further evidence that it may be possible one day to develop a drug to treat the rare neurodevelopmental disorder, which occurs predominantly in females. Further study is needed before this approach can be tested in patients, but animal work from other groups suggests that symptoms in Rett syndrome may be reversible, said senior author Colleen Niswender, Ph.D., associate professor of Pharmacology and VCNDD director of Molecular Pharmacology. "This work is exciting because it shows another possible way forward when treating Rett syndrome," said Steve Kaminsky, Ph.D., chief science officer of  Rettsyndrome.org , which has supported the research. "I am hopeful that this work can be quickly transitioned to compoun...
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Altered mitochondria associated with increased autism risk

"Our findings show that differences in mitochondrial function are important in ASD ," said study leader Douglas C. Wallace, PhD, director of the Center for Mitochondrial and Epigenomic Medicine at CHOP. "Our team demonstrates that a person's vulnerability to ASD varies according to their ancient mitochondrial lineage." Wallace and colleagues, including Dimitra Chalkia, Larry Singh and others, published their findings in  JAMA Psychiatry . The scientists conducted a cohort study of genetic data from 1,624 patients and 2,417 healthy parents and siblings, representing 933 families in the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE). The Center for Applied Genomics at CHOP had previously performed genome-wide association studies on this AGRE cohort, and partnered in this study. Mitochondria contain their own DNA, distinct from the more familiar nuclear DNA (nDNA) inside the cell nucleus. The mtDNA codes for essential genes governing cellular energy production, a...
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Fragile X syndrome: Early detection important

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Photographs exhibiting particular person reminiscence synapses in regular and Fragile X fly brains illustrate one of many syndrome's results. Connections shaped between sensory neurons and reminiscence neurons positioned in a area of the mind referred to as the calyx are proven in inexperienced. Usually, these connections are made on brief branches away from the primary axon (coloured crimson), as indicated by the arrows. In Fragile X neurons, connections are made on high of the axon, as indicated by the white bar. Total, fewer connections are shaped between sensory and reminiscence neurons, thereby disrupting the event of the olfactory circuit. Credit score: Caleb Doll, Broadie Laboratory, Vanderbilt College Fragile X syndrome -- the commonest heritable reason for autism spectrum dysfunction -- is one thing of a phantom. It interfe...
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How parents, siblings can become teachers for special needs children

Now, MSU research provides the first scientific evidence that the online training can improve communication in families with children with complex communication challenges. The findings are published in the journals  Communication Disorders Quarterly  and  Infants & Young Children . Sarah Douglas, a former special education teacher and principal investigator on the project, developed the training to fill a gap. While online training exists for parents of children with autism, none had been created for the broader population of special needs children with limited verbal abilities. "That's why I'm doing this," said Douglas, assistant professor in MSU's Department of Human Development and Family Studies. "I want families to feel like they have some control over the future of their child. That they have some control over how to navigate this world that not very many people know how to navigate, and they don't have to sit around waiting for an exper...
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Origins of autism: Abnormalities in sensory processing at six months

Scientists used a type of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), known as diffusion weighted imaging, to measure the brain connectivity in 260 infants at the ages of 6 and 12 months, who had either high or low risks of autism . The lengths and strengths of the connections between brain regions was used to estimate the network efficiency, a measure of how well each region is connected to other regions. A previous study with 24-month-old children found that network efficiency in autistic children was lower in regions of the brain involved in language and other behaviours related to autism. The goal of this new study was to establish how early these abnormalities occur. Lead author John Lewis, a researcher at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital of McGill University and the Ludmer Centre for Bioinformatics and Mental Health, found network inefficiencies had already been established in six-month-old infants who went on to be diagnosed with autism. Inefficiencies in the six-mon...
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