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[Source:  Science Daily]
 

Using a mouse model of autism, researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have successfully treated an autism spectrum disorder characterized by severe cognitive impairment.
 

The research team, led by Joe Clark, PhD, a professor of neurology at UC, reports its findings online July 2, 2012, in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, a publication of the American Society for Clinical Investigation.
 

[Source:  Medical News Today]

Outcomes for children with brain injury acquired during childhood are difficult to predict and vary significantly, states an analysis of evidence on the topic published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

"There is no single best approach to describing outcome after acquired brain injury during childhood, and the one chosen must be appropriate to the purpose at hand (e.g., identifying individual, population, global or domain-specific outcomes)," writes Dr. Rob Forsyth, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University and Great North Children's Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, with coauthors.

 

[Source: Gizmag]

Sensory substitution devices (SSDs) use sound or touch to help the visually impaired perceive the visual scene surrounding them. The ideal SSD would assist not only in sensing the environment but also in performing daily activities based on this input. For example, accurately reaching for a coffee cup, or shaking a friend's hand. In a new study, scientists trained blindfolded sighted participants to perform fast and accurate movements using a new SSD, called EyeMusic. Their results are published in the July issue of Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience.

 

[Source:  National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders]

People who are born deaf process the sense of touch differently than people who are born with normal hearing, according to research funded by the National Institutes of Health.  The finding reveals how the early loss of a sense- in this case hearing-affects brain development. It adds to a growing list of discoveries that confirm the impact of experiences and outside influences in molding the developing brain. The study is published in the July 11 online issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.
 

The researchers, Christina M. Karns, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research associate in the Brain Development Lab at the University of Oregon, Eugene, and her colleagues, show that deaf people use the auditory cortex to process touch stimuli and visual stimuli to a much greater degree than occurs in hearing people.  The finding suggests that since the developing auditory cortex of profoundly deaf people is not exposed to sound stimuli, it adapts and takes on additional sensory processing tasks.

 

[Source:  The Daily Mail]

Cerebral palsy sufferer, 10, who learned to walk two years ago completes triathlon to raise money for schoolgirl with the same condition   

 

A ten-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who learned to walk just two years ago took part in a triathlon to raise hundreds of pounds for a girl with the same condition. 

 

Aspiring paralympian Jack Lawrence is so delighted with his progress since undergoing a groundbreaking operation in 2009 that he wants to spread the word and help others walk like he does.

The selfless schoolboy ran half-a-mile, cycled half-a-mile and did 25 lengths in his local swimming pool in Filey, North Yorks., to raise 832 pounds to help India Robertson, 11, reach her fundraising goal for the procedure in America.

 

A ten-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who learned to walk just two years ago took part in a triathlon to raise hundreds of pounds for a girl with the same condition.

[Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Amick Olson crumpled onto the 10-foot orange paddle board and pressed his hands to his the ears. His flower-print swimming trunks were soaked in saltwater. His blond hair was tousled. His face was scrunched into a ball of frustration.

 

Amick is 6 years old and autistic. He covers his ears when he's overwhelmed, and at that moment, he was a bit overwhelmed. But not in a bad way.

 

His father, Lars, floated in the warm water next to him. Amick wobbled to his feet. One hand clutched his dad. The other stayed on his ear.

 

"It's all you, Amick," Lars told him.

 

Then, for just a moment, Amick let go. He stood on the board by himself. He flashed a crooked smile. He was surfing.