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Methods for detecting early signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are primarily observational, spanning from parent reports to clinical evaluation. But researchers at Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital have found remote eye-gaze tracking technology may be a more effective tool for spotting signs of ASD. In research published Friday in the Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, study authors observed the technology helped identify children with autism from children without autism but with other developmental issues like ADHD, anxiety and intellectual disabilities. “Abnormal eye gaze is a hallmark…

A blockbuster MIT study provides new evidence of a genetic link for both attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism — a possible breakthrough researchers say could lead to the use of cutting-edge gene therapy treatments for behavioral and developmental syndromes in the future. “One of the long-term goals is gene therapy where we can actually introduce genetic material that might be missing from the human,” said Michael F. Wells, a 
post-doctoral associate at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University. “What’s exciting is that this is now a possibility,…

New study published in Nature Genetics indicates that genes predisposing people to autism could influence social skills in the wider population. The same genes involved in predisposing people to autism appear to influence social skills in the wider population, suggesting that the autism spectrum has no clear cut-off point, scientists have discovered. Researchers have previously shown that autism is linked not just to one or two powerful genes, but to the combined effect of many small genetic changes. The latest findings, published in Nature Genetics, suggest that social charm, empathy…