The Harvard Gazette

Autism

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Little girl getting haircut.

New hope for sensory calm

Novel approach to treating tactile hypersensitivity in patients with autism-spectrum disorders

Science|

DateJanuary 8, 2020January 23, 2020

Harvard to launch center for autism research

Created with $20M gift from K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan, initiative aims to unravel the basic biology of autism and related disorders

Health|

DateOctober 10, 2019October 18, 2019

$9 million donation earmarked for cannabis research

HMS, MIT alum’s donations will fund independent research on the drug’s influence on brain health and behavior

Campus|

DateApril 30, 2019May 1, 2019

neurone string

More than a courier

Once seen as the nerve cells’ foot soldier, the axon emerges as an independent decision-maker

Science|

DateFebruary 15, 2019February 27, 2019

Paola Arlotta.

Rewinding the brain

In the glimpse of the past provided by organoids, Paola Arlotta sees a chance to shape the future of how we fight neurological disease

Health|

DateDecember 11, 2018December 12, 2018

“This is the first time, in humans, that a neurotransmitter in the brain has been linked to autistic behavior — full stop,” said Caroline Robertson, a junior fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows.

A brain link to autism

Scientists find neurotransmitter that ties in with disorder’s behavior

Health|

DateDecember 17, 2015March 8, 2019

Dyann Wirth, chair of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, discusses what’s behind the resurgence of measles in the United States.

Sick with measles, again

Infectious disease expert discusses recent spread, vaccination issues, more

Health|

DateFebruary 5, 2015

Harvard Professor Takao K. Hensch and Nadine Gogolla, now at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Germany, found that boosting inhibitory neurotransmission early in brain development could reverse deficits in sensory integration associated with autismlike symptoms.

Help for halting autism symptoms

Finding in mice a first insight toward better grasp of disorder’s effect on humans

Health|

DateJuly 31, 2014

“Because of the genetic complexity of schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders, we need a large sample size to conduct this type of research," said Steve E. Hyman, director of the Broad’s Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research. Broad summer student Lydia Emerson prepares samples for sequencing in the Stanley Center lab in July. Research scientists Ellen Vieux and Tim Blosser collaborate in the background.

Researchers shed new light on schizophrenia

International team's work may lead to innovations in treatment that has seen little change in 60 years

Health|

DateJuly 21, 2014

In his new book, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind discusses his son Owen's regressive autism and how Disney movies helped to enhance his speech, social appropriateness, and contact with others. “Research scientists have been calling by the minute,” said Suskind.

Family ties with a Disney twist

Safra Fellow Suskind writes of reconnecting with autistic son

Arts|

DateApril 4, 2014

“In special education, there’s too much emphasis placed on the deficit and not enough on the strength,” said the Boston-born Temple Grandin at Askwith Hall

Autism as a facet of experience, not a limit

Temple Grandin shares firsthand insights from work, activism

World|

DateMarch 27, 2014

Autism diagnosis surge puts financial strain on schools

News +|

DateFebruary 19, 2014

A recent study indicates that children's exposure to certain chemicals, including some pesticides, may trigger disabilities such as autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and dyslexia.

Toxic chemicals linked to brain disorders in children

Harvard study finds six newly recognized chemicals to add to list

Health|

DateFebruary 14, 2014May 2, 2019

Researchers awarded NARSAD grants

Funds Harvard scientists to conduct innovative research on mental illness

News|

DateAugust 20, 2012

A new process of diagnosing autism in children has been developed by researchers at Harvard Medical School. “We believe this approach will make it possible for more children to be accurately diagnosed during the early critical period when behavioral therapies are most effective,” said Dennis Wall, associate professor of pathology and director of the Computational Biology Initiative at the Center for Biomedical Informatics.

Detecting autism in matter of minutes

Researchers find Web-based tool produces fast, accurate diagnosis

Health|

DateApril 10, 2012June 26, 2019

“The next step for us is to ask parallel questions of other parts of the brain and spinal cord, those involved in ALS and with spinal cord injuries. In these cases, can we rebuild circuitry in the mammalian brain? I suspect that we can,” said Jeffrey Macklis, Harvard University professor of stem cell and regenerative biology.

Rebuilding the brain’s circuitry

Healthy neurons can integrate into diseased areas

Health|

DateNovember 24, 2011March 25, 2019

Parvalbumin cells (blue) and one of the genes (red) that regulate their maturation in the cerebral cortex of a mouse. The connections made to and from these cells control critical periods of brain development and are vulnerable to mental illness. The Conte Center aims to map the wiring diagram, imprinted gene network, and functional maturation of these pivotal neurons using state-of-the-art microscopy and bioinformatics approaches.

Neurons in youth

Harvard study of brain development may shed light on disorders

Science|

DateNovember 17, 2011April 15, 2019

HMS fellowship open for applicants

Campus|

DateMarch 24, 2011July 19, 2019

Leon Eisenberg will be remembered for his accomplishments in advancing our understanding of the biosocial basis of health and disease in human populations and the social roots of developmental psychopathology. He will also continue to be acclaimed for his contributions to the education of medical students, residents, and fellows as well as fellow faculty members. And he will be remembered as a gifted and greatly influential writer. Yet his most enduring contribution may well be the extraordinary moral example he set of the responsibilities of the scholar and the educator to the wider society. He never took his eye off of the responsibility of science and medicine to improve the lives of the sick, the poor, and the vulnerable.

Leon Eisenberg

Harvard Medical School — Memorial Minute

News|

DateMarch 3, 2011

C. David Allis of The Rockefeller University explained that there are important factors in development that go beyond the DNA “blueprint" in his Radcliffe Dean’s Lecture, “Beyond the Double Helix: Varying the ‘Histone Code.’”

Beyond DNA

Radcliffe Dean’s Lecture explores an aspect of genetic regulation

Health|

DateFebruary 23, 2011May 17, 2019

Researchers have developed a biologically based test for autism, which uses MRI to measure deviations in brain circuitry and can detect the disorder in individuals with high-functioning autism with 94 percent accuracy. “Indeed, we have new ways to discover more about the biological basis of autism and how to improve the lives of individuals with the disorder,” said senior author Janet Lainhart, principal investigator of the research.

Major step in autism testing

Researchers develop biologically based test with 94% accuracy

Health|

DateDecember 2, 2010April 1, 2019

Call for applications for postdoctoral fellowship in autism

Campus|

DateOctober 14, 2010May 2, 2019

Panel finds no digestion problem specific to autism

Associated Press

News|

DateJanuary 4, 2010

Autism’s genetic roots examined in new government-funded study

The Los Angeles Times

News|

DateOctober 1, 2009

How brain cells make good connections

Understanding how synapses work may have profound implications

Health|

DateFebruary 14, 2008

Research in brief

Health|

DateFebruary 7, 2008