BACKGROUND Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are flame retardants used widely and in increasing amounts in the U.S. over the last few decades. PBDEs and their metabolites cross the placenta and studies in rodents demonstrate neurodevelopmental toxicity from prenatal exposures. PBDE exposures occur both via breastfeeding and hand-to-mouth activities in small children. METHODS Participants...

BACKGROUND Migration has been implicated as a risk factor for autism, but evidence is limited and inconsistent. AIMS To investigate the relationship between parental migration status and risk of autism spectrum disorder, taking into consideration the importance of region of origin, timing of migration and possible discrepancies in associations between autism subtypes. METHOD Record-linkage ...

OBJECTIVE Autism is a complex, heterogeneous neurobehavioral disorder with many causes and varying degrees of severity. Some genetic implications related to autism may involve gene-regulatory processes such as alternative splicing. Here, we assess the feasibility of profiling exon-level gene expression in autism using the Affymetrix Human exon 1.0 ST array. METHODS We examined lymphoblastoid ...

OBJECTIVE To compare the annual prevalence of the autism symptom phenotype and of registered diagnoses for autism spectrum disorder during a 10 year period in children. DESIGN Population based study. SETTING Child and Adolescent Twin Study and national patient register, Sweden. PARTICIPANTS 19, 993 twins (190 with autism spectrum disorder) and all children (n=1,078,975; 4620 with autism s...

Several recent reports have described the occurrence of autism in subjects with Down's syndrome (DS). However, relatively little is known about the family history of these subjects, especially with reference to autism. In order to address this issue, the present author examined 11 subjects with DS and autism (DSM-III-R; nine males), and compared them with seven controls with DS but without auti...

BACKGROUND The epidemiology of autism in adults has relied on untested projections using childhood research. AIMS To derive representative estimates of the prevalence of autism and key associations in adults of all ages and ability levels. METHOD Comparable clinical diagnostic assessments of 7274 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey participants combined with a population case-register survey...

This article examines the most significant, contradictory evidence pertaining to autism. The first section of the article includes reports of recovery from autism, data obtained from studies involving oxytocin, early deprivation, autism in preterm children, late-onset autism, and symptom overlap among ASD, social phobias and personality disorders. In the second section of the article, we offer ...

It is hypothesised that autism symptoms are present in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), are familial and index subtypes of ADHD. Autism symptoms were compared in 821 ADHD probands, 1050 siblings and 149 controls. Shared familiality of autism symptoms and ADHD was calculated using DeFries-Fulker analysis. Autism symptoms were higher in probands than siblings or controls, and high...