When Erin Lopes' son Tommy was 15 months old, she became alarmed when he stopped saying "yes" and "no" and holding her gaze. It wouldn't be until he was three years old that Tommy was finally diagnosed with autism. Tommy had two first cousins on the autism spectrum, so Lopes suspected it ran in families. So she was relieved when her daughter Evee Bak, who was born 17 months after Tommy, was talking in full sentences by her second birthday. The toddler appeared to not be on the autism spectrum-what autism advocates today call "neurotypical." Erin's children exemplify a question that's mystified scientists for decades: Given that autism, a developmental disorder that impairs a person's ability to communicate and interact, is inherited in most cases, why do girls get it at much lower rates than boys? Read More

Therapy against tics works, and both group and individual treatment are suitable methods to achieve a good effect. This is the conclusion reached by a group of Danish researchers after comparing the effect of different types of tics training based on a new Danish manual. This means that therapists in future can plan a much better course of treatment for those children who experience a very difficult life with tics. One of the researchers behind the study, Judith Becker Nissen, who is associate professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University and a consultant at the Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Risskov under the Central Denmark Region, explains: "The study confirms that children and young people with tics can be effectively treated by training in accordance with the strategies that are described in the manual we have developed. This treatment can take place both in groups and individually. This means that many more children and young people can be offered relevant treatment, which is very welcome news for the affected families," says Judith Becker Nissen about the research that has been published in the scientific journal European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Read More

A team of researchers at the University of Minnesota have, for the first time, fully 3D printed an array of light receptors on a hemispherical surface. This discovery marks a significant step toward creating a "bionic eye" that could someday help blind people see or sighted people see better. The research is published today in Advanced Materials, a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering materials science. The author also holds the patent for 3D-printed semiconducting devices. "Bionic eyes are usually thought of as science fiction, but now we are closer than ever using a multimaterial 3D printer," said Michael McAlpine, a co-author of the study and University of Minnesota Benjamin Mayhugh Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Read More

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have uncovered new information on the pathways involved in neuronal regeneration, hopefully bringing the medical community one step closer to managing brain and spinal cord injuries. By observing neurons after injury, they found that by changing the levels of sugars that cover the surface of proteins (called O-GlcNAc modifications), they could alter neuronal metabolism and thus were able to significantly enhance neuronal regeneration after injury. Using an experimental model, the researchers compared neurons in which O-GlcNAc levels were either absent or in abundance. The researchers then used a specially designed laser to injure individual neurons and measure subsequent regeneration in each of these conditions. Read More