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Common Mechanisms May Underlie Autism’s Seemingly Diverse Mutations
July 10, 2008 • Press Release
Many of the seemingly disparate mutations recently discovered in autism may share common underlying mechanisms, say researchers supported in part by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The mutations may disrupt specific genes that are vital to the developing brain, and which are turned on and off by experience-triggered neuronal activity.
Spontaneous Mutations Rife in Non-Familial Schizophrenia
May 30, 2008 • Press Release
People with schizophrenia from families with no history of the illness were found to harbor eight times more spontaneous mutations – most in pathways affecting brain development – than healthy controls, in a study supported in part the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). By contrast, no spontaneous mutations were found in people with schizophrenia who had family histories of the illness.
Newly Awarded Autism Centers of Excellence to Further Autism Research
April 1, 2008 • Press Release
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on March 24, 2008, the latest recipients of the Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) program. These grants will support studies covering a broad range of autism research areas, including early brain development and functioning, social interactions in infants, rare genetic variants and mutations, associations between autism-related genes and physical traits, possible environmental risk factors and biomarkers, and a potential new medication treatment.
Rates of Rare Mutations Soar Three to Four Times Higher in Schizophrenia
March 27, 2008 • Press Release
People with schizophrenia have high rates of rare genetic deletions and duplications that likely disrupt the developing brain, according to studies funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.
Autism Risk Higher in People with Gene Variant
January 10, 2008 • Press Release
Scientists have found a variation in a gene that may raise the risk of developing autism, especially when the variant is inherited from mothers rather than fathers.
Tiny, Spontaneous Gene Mutations May Boost Autism Risk
March 15, 2007 • Press Release
Tiny gene mutations, each individually rare, pose more risk for autism than had been previously thought, suggests a study funded in part by the National Institute of Mental Health, a component of the National Institutes of Health.
Largest-Ever Search for Autism Genes Reveals New Clues
February 18, 2007 • Press Release
The largest search for autism genes to date, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has implicated components of the brain’s glutamate chemical messenger system and a previously overlooked site on chromosome 11.
Brain’s Fear Center Likely Shrinks in Autism’s Most Severely Socially Impaired
December 4, 2006 • Press Release
The brain’s fear hub likely becomes abnormally small in the most severely socially impaired males with autism spectrum disorders, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have discovered.
Gene Linked to Autism in Families with More Than One Affected Child
October 17, 2006 • Press Release
A version of a gene has been linked to autism in families that have more than one child with the disorder. Inheriting two copies of this version more than doubled a child’s risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder, scientists supported by NIMH and NICHD have discovered.
New NIMH Research Program Launches Autism Trials
September 7, 2006 • Press Release
NIMH has launched three major clinical studies on autism at its research program on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland.
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