Friday, 6 February 2009
9:00 - 10:00 AM

Coffee served in the lobby 8:30 a.m.

Please Note Location Change:
The Seminar will be held in the Semel Institute Auditorium, Room C8-183
(UCLA Campus Map)

All are welcome!

For further information contact Candace Wilkinson at (310) 825-9041.

Abstract

Autism is a fascinating neurological disorder that has gone from obscurity and mystery to becoming a serious enough health concern to merit comments from both presidential candidates, a preoccupation for practicing pediatricians, a source of fear for parents, and subject to the attention of a wide range of neuroscientists and geneticists. Autism is now no longer the mysterious and rare disorder of children only and scientific studies with the support of advancing technology have resulted in major advances in the understanding of the pathophysiology in a relatively short time. The disorder has long been thought to be the most likely complex neuropsychiatric disorder for which genes will be found. Its pathophysiology has all the complexity expected of a developmental neurobiologic disorder. Investigations by diverse disciplines have resulted in many important advances but these have not been well integrated and have led to fragmented views of cause. The purpose of this presentation is to present the major research findings of the past decade from a neurological perspective and the emerging coherent picture of the pathophysiology. With this view comes the hope for current and future innovations in treatment.

Recommended Reading

Minshew NJ, Williams DL. The New Neurobiology of Autism. Arch Neurol, 2007, 64:7; 945-950. PMID: 17620483

Williams DL, Goldstein G, Minshew NJ. Neuropsychologic functioning in children with autism: Further evidence for disordered complex information processing. Child Neuropsychol 2006, 12:279-298. PMID: 16911973

Just MA, Cherkassky VL, Keller TA, Minshew NJ. Cortical activation and synchronization during sentence comprehension in high-functioning autism: Evidence of underconnectivity. Brain 2004, 127:6; 1811-1821. PMID: 15215213

Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships: Understanding and Managing Social Challenges for Those With Asperger's/Autism by Temple Grandin, Sean Barron, Veronica Zysk (Editor) ISBN-13: 9781932565065Pub. Date: 12/28/2004

Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure by Paul A. Offit. ISBN-13: 9780231146364Pub. Date: 09/05/2008