Autism

An association between rigid-compulsive behaviors and gastrointestinal symptoms in autism spectrum disorder may point to a common biological pathway that impacts both the brain and the gut. Read More

iStock Peer solicitation – a child inviting another to play – can improve reciprocal social interaction among children with autism, according to a Vanderbilt University study released today in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Researchers studied playground interactions between children with autism and typically… Read More

MRI brain scans reveal that children with autism spectrum disorders respond to a narrower range of familiar rewards. Read More

Will a definitive same-sex marriage lawsuit wind up in the Supreme Court? Also, finding what goes "boom" might get safer; and it’s time to slow down and smell the roses, Vandy-style. Watch these stories and more in VUCast, Vanderbilt’s online newscast. Read More

A novel autism intervention program using theatre to teach reciprocal communication skills is improving social deficits in adolescents with the disorder that now affects an estimated one in 88 children, Vanderbilt University researchers report in the journal Autism Research. Read More

A novel autism intervention program using theatre to teach reciprocal communication skills is improving social deficits in adolescents with the disorder that now affects an estimated one in 88 children, Vanderbilt University researchers released today in the journal Autism Research. Read More

Vanderbilt University investigators for the first time have linked a non-inherited, de novo mutation in the dopamine transporter to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Read More

A biomarker for oxidative stress is elevated in patients with both autism spectrum disorder and gastrointestinal dysfunction, suggesting opportunities for individualized approaches to clinical care. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers reprogrammed a humanoid robot and an XBox Kinect to help autistic children improve their abilities to engage in social interactions. Nilanjan Sarkar, professor of mechanical and computer engineering, is quoted. Read More

A three-year study that evaluated the effectiveness of a training program designed to enhance autism spectrum disorder identification and assessment within community pediatric settings was released this week in the journal Autism. Read More

Children with autism spectrum disorder are better at perceiving the motion of certain objects than are typically developing children their age. Read More

Vanderbilt University is part of a multi-site autism clinical study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a blood test that aims to screen children for referral for autism spectrum disorder evaluation (ASD) earlier and more accurately. Read More

An interdisciplinary team of autism experts and mechanical engineers at Vanderbilt University has created an interactive robot that can help children with autism learn. NAO (pronounced “now”) is the little robot “front man” for an elaborate system of cameras, sensors and computers designed specifically to help young children learn how… Read More

How a robot helps kids with autism Hear from a student who played with Billy Joel Nashville Predators warm the youngest of hearts All this and more in this week’s VUCast, Vanderbilt’s online newscast. [vucastblurb]… Read More

An interdisciplinary team of mechanical engineers and autism experts at Vanderbilt University have developed an adaptive robotic system and used it to demonstrate that humanoid robots can be powerful tools for enhancing the basic social learning skills of children with autism. Read More

Individuals with overexpression of the gene MECP2 have core features of autism spectrum disorder. Read More

One of the critical, unmet needs for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is support for the transition into adulthood. Read More

ResearchMatch, a national on-line volunteer recruitment service hosted by Vanderbilt University, has launched a sub-registry for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to increase the participation of children and adults with autism in clinical research studies. Read More

Recent advances in genetics and understanding how the brain works raise the possibility that intellectual developmental disabilities are treatable and some actually may be reversible. Read More

There may be a biological basis for separate doll and dump truck aisles in the toy store. Read More