Autistic Daily

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Dr. Manuel Casanova, a neuroscientist at the University of Louisville department of Psychiatry, says that although autism and dyslexia may seem like completely different syndromes, they’re highly similar when it comes to brain connectivity.

In short, both favor one type of connectivity over another.

Casanova and his colleagues mapped the way tiny strands of brain tissue – called cortical cell minicolumns – develop and connect in normal people and in people with autism, dyslexia and other language problems.

Previous research shows people with autism may have brains that favor shorter connections between these cortical cell minicolumns, allowing them to excel at mathematics and visual discrimination tasks.

Oppositely, the dyslexic brain seems to favor longer connections between the columns, which may explain why these individuals are better at abstract, creative thinking.

Casanova’s research can be found in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

via louisville.edu

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slushpup on Flickr

In the first candidate gene study of its kind, scientist have identified 27 genes that play roles either Asperger’s Syndrome and/or autistic traits and/or empathy.

The results from research conducted by Dr Bhismadev Chakrabarti and Professor Simon Baron-Cohen from the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge will be published in the July 16 Autism Research journal.

“These 27 genes represent preliminary leads for understanding the genetic bases of AS and related traits, such as empathy, in the general population,” said Dr. Chakrabarti.

Sixty-eight genes were chosen to be studied that were known to play roles in neural growth, social behavior, or sex steroid hormones.

“We chose to look at the genetics of AS because all other genetic studies have focused on classic autism, which can include learning difficulties and language delay,” added Simon Baron-Cohen. “AS is a more ‘pure’ condition because these other factors are absent. These new results represent a significant advance over our previous work in showing that the sex steroid hormones (e.g. testosterone and oestrogen) influence social development and autistic traits.”

The researchers looked at both adults with a formal diagnoses of Asperger’s and adults in the general population who had filled out the Autism Spectrum Quotient and Empathy Quotient.

via sciencedaily.com

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A study comparing autistic and non-autistic children found differences in as many as 27 genetic regions between the two groups.

The study, published in the June 26 issue of PloS Genetics, found these differences consisted of missing and/or extra copies of DNA after comparing genetic samples from over 3,000 people and 900 families with samples from over 1,000 children without autism.

Two previously unreported genetic regions BZRAP1 and MDGA2, which are thought to regulate synaptic function and neurological development, respectively, were also discovered.

via modernmedicine.com

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University of Montreal

While autism spectrum disorders are steretypically associated with some cognitive difficulties, one study suggests autistic may be better at problem solving than normal individuals.

A study conducted by the University of Montreal and Harvard asked participants to complete patterns in the Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM) – test that measures hypothesis-testing, problem-solving and learning skills.

Not only were autistics able to complete the tasks with speed and accuracy, they performed better than non autistic individuals.

“While both groups performed RSPM test with equal accuracy, the autistic group responded more quickly and appeared to use perceptual regions of the brain to accelerate problem-solving,” says lead author Isabelle Soulières, a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University who completed the experiment at the Université de Montréal.

Researchers say the study suggests autistics have more highly developed perception than normal individuals.

The study serves as an example of how those on the autism spectrum, despite having some social and learning difficulties, also have superior abilities that should be capitalized upon.

via sciencedaily.com

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LoreleiRanveig on Flickr

Two members of the neuroligin protein family (3 and 4), have been linked to autism in recent years.

Now, researchers have discovered these same proteins play important roles in synapse connection, during which neurons form bridges to transmits signals to one other.

After catching two neurons “in the act,” researchers have identified the proteins on the membranes of receptor neurons which aid in holding cells together.

Science Daily reports:

“The research team of six UO and University of California, Davis, scientists found one of many finger-like filopodia, or spines, that reach out from one neuron is nabbed by neuroligin molecules on the membrane of another neuron. In turn, neuroligins recruit at least two other key proteins (PSD-95 and NMDA receptors) to begin building a scaffold to hold the synapse components in place.”

Synapse formation is critical during neurological developement and it’s suggested that abnormal synpase formation may lead to a variety of cognitive, psychological, and behavioral disorders including autism and mental retardation.

via Sciencedaily.com

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