health 78

utism spectrum disorder affects an estimated one in 68 children in the United States , causing a wide range of symptoms. While some individuals with the disorder have average or above-average reasoning, memory, attention and language skills, others have intellectual disabilities. Researchers have worked to understand the root of these cognitive differences in the brain and why autism spectrum disorder symptoms are so diverse. An electroencephalogram, or EEG , is a test that detects electrical activity in a person's brain using small electrodes that are placed on the scalp. It measures different aspects of brain activity including peak alpha frequency, which can be detected using a single electrode in as little as 40 seconds and has previously been linked to cognition in healthy individuals. The researchers performed EEGs on 97 children ages 2 to 11; 59 had diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder and 38 did not have the disorder. The EEGs were taken while the children were awak...

In particular, the parts of our brains that enable us to use tools and visualize and locate objects owe some of their lineage to Neanderthal-derived gene variants that are part of our genomes and affect the shape of those structures -- to the extent that an individual harbors the ancient variants. But this may involve trade-offs with our social brain. The evidence from MRI scans suggests that such Neanderthal-derived genetic variation may affect the way our brains work today -- and may hold clues to understanding deficits seen in schizophrenia and autism-related disorders, say the researchers. Dr. Berman, Michael Gregory, M.D., of the NIMH Section on Integrative Neuroimaging, and colleagues, report on their magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study published online, July 24, 2017 in the journal  Scientific Reports . During their primordial migration out of Africa, ancestors of present-day humans are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals, whose brain characteristics can b...