NICHD - News Releases

All News releases related to the Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities (MRDD) Branch

Your search for: All Related News Releases All Years returned the following 29 results:

05/29/08		NIH Researchers Find That Rett Syndrome Gene is Full of Surprises
A study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has transformed scientists' understanding of Rett syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes autistic behavior and other disabling symptoms. Until now, scientists thought that the gene behind Rett syndrome was an "off" switch, or repressor, for other genes. But the new study, published today in Science1, shows that it is an "on" switch for a startlingly large number of genes.

04/01/08		Newly Awarded Autism Centers of Excellence to Further Autism Research
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on April 1, 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.

04/01/08		NIH Research Suggests Stimulant Treatment For ADHD Does Not Contribute To Substance Abuse Later In Life
Treating children as early as age six or seven with stimulants for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is not likely to increase risk of substance abuse as adults, according to two studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). However, the studies also showed treatment with stimulants did not prevent substance abuse later in adulthood. The studies, conducted by researchers at New York University School of Medicine (NYU) and the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School (Mass General) are being published in this month's American Journal of Psychiatry.

01/29/08		Thin Bones Seen In Boys with Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder
Results of an early study suggest that dairy-free diets and unconventional food preferences could put boys with autism and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at higher than normal risk for thinner, less dense bones when compared to a group of boys the same age who do not have autism.

01/22/08		NIH Develops Down Syndrome Research Plan
The National Institutes of Health has developed a research plan to advance understanding of Down syndrome and speed development of new treatments for the condition, the most frequent genetic cause of mild to moderate intellectual disability and associated medical problems. The plan sets research goals for the next 10 years that build upon earlier research advances fostered by the NIH.

10/01/07		Public Comment: DRAFT National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Plan on Down Syndrome
After many internal meetings and consultations and meetings with outside groups and scientists, the Working Group created a draft research plan with input from the outside scientific and family communities, at the request of Congress in the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations legislation for fiscal year 2007.

08/02/07		NIH Funds New Program to Investigate Causes and Treatment of Autism
The National Institutes of Health will intensify its efforts to find the causes of autism and identify new treatments for the disorder, through a new research program.

06/20/07		Researchers Discover Gene For Rare Skin Disorder
Researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health have identified the gene that accounts for most cases of Goltz syndrome, a rare skin disorder that can also affect bone and eye development.

04/16/07		Researchers Discover Gene Crucial for Nerve Cell Insulation
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have discovered how a defect in a single master gene disrupts the process by which several genes interact to create myelin, a fatty coating that covers nerve cells and increases the speed and reliability of their electrical signals.

02/20/07		Largest-Ever Search for Autism Genes Reveals New Clues
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.

12/05/06		Brain's Fear Center Shrinks In Autism's Most Severely Socially-Impaired
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.

10/17/06		Gene Linked to Autism in Families with More Than One Affected Child
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 the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have discovered.

08/16/06		Study Provides Evidence That Autism Affects Functioning of Entire Brain
A recent study provides evidence that autism affects the functioning of virtually the entire brain, and is not limited to the brain areas involved with social interactions, communication behaviors, and reasoning abilities, as had been previously thought. The study, conducted by scientists in a research network supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found that autism also affects a broad array of skills and abilities, including those involved with sensory perception, movement, and memory.

07/12/06		Researchers Gain Insight Into Why Brain Areas Fail To Work Together in Autism
Researchers have found in two studies that autism may involve a lack of connections and coordination in separate areas of the brain.

11/29/04		Brains of People with Autism Recall Letters of the Alphabet In Brain Areas Dealing With Shapes
In contrast to people who do not have autism, people with autism remember letters of the alphabet in a part of the brain that ordinarily processes shapes, according to a study from a collaborative program of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.

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