Research News

As a therapeutic tool, electrical stimulation is being used in innovative ways to promote recovery of function following nervous system injury or disease. It can restore control and offset atrophy to muscles after injury and has a variety of therapeutic applications in the clinical setting. New research now suggests that electrical stimulation may also enhance central nervous system (CNS) repair.

(Baltimore, MD) - An international collaboration of scientists has completed the first comprehensive analysis on the clinical effects of the genetic mutations involved in Rett Syndrome, a severe childhood neurological disorder on the autism spectrum caused by mutations in the gene MECP2. The current study, published in the March edition of Neurology, confirms and expands researchers' understanding of the distinctive clinical presentation of specific mutations in Rett syndrome.

In a study recently published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (Epub ahead of print), researchers from the Kennedy Krieger Institute found that early intervention can improve the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in very young children. This is the first randomized clinical trial measuring how a group-based early intervention model impacts social development in toddlers with ASD.