Research News

Baltimore, Md. -- In new findings published today in the New England Journal of Medicine (Epub ahead of print), researchers from the Kennedy Krieger Institute reveal the discovery of the cause – a genetic mutation that occurs before birth – of Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS) and port-wine stain birthmarks. SWS is a rare disorder affecting approximately one in 20,000 births, while port-wine birthmarks are more common, affecting approximately one million individuals in the United States.  

Baltimore, MD -- A new study by Kennedy Krieger Institute’s International Center for Spinal Cord Injury (Epub ahead of print) finds that long-term lower extremity functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycling, as part of a rehabilitation regimen, is associated with substantial improvements in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI).

BALTIMORE, Md. -- New findings published in Pediatrics (Epub ahead of print) by the Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Center for Autism and Related Disorders reveal that 70 percent of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) who have a history of severe language delay, achieved phrase or fluent speech by age eight.

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Nearly 70 percent of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience emotional trauma as a result of being bullied, according to findings published today in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, while a significant portion were concerned for their own safety at school. The study also found that children with ASD who presented with pre-existing psychiatric diagnoses were at incr

For some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the core symptoms of impaired communication, social skills and repetitive behaviors are just the beginning of the challenges that they face. An ASD diagnosis also brings an increased likelihood of receiving a secondary mental health diagnosis, such as depression, anxiety and psychotic disorders, many of which manifest in severe behaviors that can quickly escalate to a crisis situation for a child and their family.

BALTIMORE, Md. -- In the first study to compare mental health-related emergency department (ED) visits between children with and without autism spectrum disorders (ASD), researchers found that ED visits are nine times more likely to be for psychiatric reasons if a child has an ASD diagnosis.

Kennedy Krieger Institute and NYU Langone Medical Center announced today the creation of a new groundbreaking collaboration in autism research. The Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) is a database of brain scans from more than 15 leading international research institutions and academic medical centers. ABIDE was designed to advance scientific understanding of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by allowing researchers to share autism data within the broader scientific community. The collaboration is led by NYU Langone and Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have significantly lower concentrations of the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain compared with typically developing children.

The recent article published in Science entitled "Restoring voluntary control of locomotion after paralyzing spinal cord injury" by van den Brand et al.¹ is a great basic scientific demonstration of the degree of plasticity and endogenous re-organization both above and below the injury level associated with recovery.

Baltimore, MD -- In a step towards improving rehabilitation for patients with walking impairments, researchers from the Kennedy Krieger Institute found that non-invasive stimulation of the cerebellum, an area of the brain known to be essential in adaptive learning, helped healthy individuals learn a new walking pattern more rapidly. The findings suggest that cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may be a valuable therapy tool to aid people relearning how to walk following a stroke or other brain injury.