A
Wayne
State University
professor has received a large chunk of change to help unlock one of the most puzzling
diseases.
The National Institute
of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health, awarded Wayne
State Prof. Dr. Diane Chugani a $5.79 million grant to conduct research on autism.
The hope is the study may one day open doors to finding a treatment for autism
Chugani is a professor of Pediatrics and Radiology and director
of the Translational Imaging Laboratory at Children’s
Hospital of Michigan. She was also a founding board member of the International Society for Autism Research.
She has conducted extensive research on autism in the past and this grant will
be a continuation of that.
That research showed that the brain serotonergic system is
abnormal during critical periods of brain development in children with autism. This
study showed that serotonin synthesis capacity in children less than the age of
six years was significantly altered when compared to non-autistic children.
Autism is one of the most pervasive development disorders because
it impairs social interactions and communication by severely restricting
interest levels. It's prevalent in nearly two people in 1,000. Autism affects
many parts of the brain, but how it happens is not clearly understood. There is
no single known cause of autism and currently there is no cure for the disease
that requires a lifetime of support.
Source: Wayne
State University
Writer: Jon Zemke
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