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new Caltech study suggests that specific changes in an overactive immune system can indeed contribute to autism-like behaviors in mice

have long suspected that the immune system plays a role in the development of autism spectrum disorder

Several large epidemiological studies—including one that involved tracking the medical history of every person born in Denmark between 1980 and 2005—have found a correlation between viral infection during the first trimester of a mother's pregnancy and a higher risk for autism spectrum disorder in her child

researchers characterized the immune system of the offspring of mothers that had been infected and found that the offspring display a number of immune changes

Some of those changes parallel those seen in people with autism,

alterations add up to an immune system in overdrive—one that promotes inflammation

researchers were able to correct many of the autism-like behaviors in the offspring of immune-activated mothers by giving the offspring a bone-marrow transplant from typical mice

because the work was conducted in mice, the results cannot be readily extrapolated to humans

bone-marrow transplants should be considered as a treatment for autism

In future studies, the researchers plan to examine the effects of highly targeted anti-inflammatory treatments on mice that display autism-related behaviors and immune changes

also interested in considering the gastrointestinal (GI) bacteria

It's a condition called sensory over-responsivity, and it was recognized as one of the core features of autism spectrum disorder

"I think if anybody ever had a doubt that this was just some sort of odd pickiness or something like that in people with autism, this shows, no, there really is a brain basis for this," said Dr. Paul Wang

researchers recruited 32 children and teens. Half the group had been diagnosed with autism. The others were typically developing kids who were matched in age to the autistic kids.

scientists had them rest in a fMRI machine, a kind of scanner than can see brain activity in real time

they touched the kids with a scratchy wool sweater, played loud traffic noises or did both at the same time. Each condition was repeated four times for 15 seconds

The brains of children with autism reacted much more strongly to the sensory stimulation than did the brains of typically developing kids

The two areas that seemed to be the most hyperactive were the primary sensory cortex, which is responsible for initially processing sensory information, and the amygdala, which is involved in emotional regulation.

They are kind of initially interpreting these stimuli differently and, also, they're not able to regulate their response

Shula Green, a Ph.D. candidate

typical kids,

have an initial response almost immediately, then by the second time around, that response goes way down

In kids with autism, that response really stays high throughout the scan. They're not getting used to it

the hyperactivity the researchers saw on the brain scans became most intense when kids with autism experienced the two sensations at the same time

something is really going on when there's more than one stimulus the brain has to deal with

levels of the enzyme, salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), were lower than those of typically developing children in samples taken in the afternoon in

samples taken at home throughout the day showed that sAA levels were higher in general across the day and much less variable for children with ASD

sAA levels of typically developing children gradually rise and fall over the day

Norepinephrine (NE) has been found in the blood plasma levels of individuals with ASD, but some researchers have questioned whether these levels were just related to the stress from blood draws

collecting salivary measures by simply placing a highly absorbent sponge swab under the child’s tongue and confirmed that this method of collection did not stress the children by assessing their stress levels through cortisol, another hormone

potential for physicians to screen children for ASD much earlier, noninvasively and relatively inexpensively

also see pupil size and sAA levels as biomarkers

Many theories of autism propose that the disorder is due to deficits in higher-order brain areas

Our findings, however, suggest that the core deficits may lie in areas of the brain typically associated with more fundamental, vital functions

study, published online in the May 29, 2012

compared children between the ages of 20 and 72 months of age diagnosed with ASD to a group of typically developing children and a third group of children with Down syndrome

also more receptive to social advances from their peers in the presence of the animals than they were when playing with toys

also increased instances of smiling and laughing, and reduced frowning, whining and crying behaviors in children with ASD more than having toys did.

Previous studies have shown that people are more likely to receive overtures of friendship from strangers when walking a dog than when walking alone

similar effects have been observed for people holding smaller animals like rabbits or turtles

authors suggest that this 'social lubricant' effect of animals on human social interactions can be particularly important for individuals with socio-emotional disabilities

the ability of an animal to help children with ASD connect to adults may help foster interactions with therapists, teachers or other adult figures

animal-assisted interventions may have applications in the classroom as well,

For children with ASD, the school classroom can be a stressful and overwhelming environment

If an animal can reduce this stress or artificially change children's perception

then a child with ASD may feel more at ease and open to social approach behaviors

Tetris-like game called Numberbonds, in which bars of different lengths fall down the screen

select a block of the correct size to fill out a row

emphasizes spatial relationships, which some dyscalculics also struggle with.

The Number Sense games, including a snazzy-looking iPhone version of Numberbonds, are intended to nurture the abilities that

contends, are the root of numerical cognition and the core deficit of dyscalculia — manipulating precise quantities.

In a game called Dots to Track, for example, children must ascribe an Arabic numeral to a pattern of dots, similar to those on dice.

When they enter the wrong value — and they often do — the game asks the children to add or remove dots to achieve the correct answer.

Other students are improving more slowly, but it is not easy to say why

Dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder are common among dyscalculics, and it can be difficult to untangle these problems,

with the right practice and attention from teachers and parents, dyscalculic children can thrive,

computer games are a supplement, not a replacement, for one-on-one tutoring.

in 2009 that Number Race, a game his group developed, modestly improved the ability of 15 dyscalculic kindergarten children to discern the larger of two numbers, but that it had no effect on their arithmetic or counting

a Swiss team reported in 2011 that a game that involves placing a spaceship on a number line helped eight- to ten-year-old dyscalculics with arithmetic

studied the children in an fMRI scanner during a task that involved arranging numbers.

one month after training, the children showed increased activation in the intraparietal sulcus and reduced neural activation elsewhere in the parietal lobes — a hint that their improvements in arithmetic were related to changes involving brain areas that respond to number.

hopes to monitor the brains of students such as Christopher as they practice Number Sense, to see if their parietal lobes are indeed changing

turned down by every funding source he has applied to

dyscalculia, like other learning disabilities, takes a toll on productivity

it doesn't attract much attention or money

In the United States, for example, the National Institutes of Health spent $2 million studying dyscalculia between 2000 and 2011, compared with more than $107 million on dyslexia.