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What is stimming?

What is stimming?

Repetitive body movements or repetitive movement of objects is referred to as self-stimulatory behavior, abbreviated to stimming. Stimming can occur in people with autism and other developmental disabilities. Some people will stim when nervous, employing behaviors such as pacing, biting their nails, hair twirling, or tapping their feet or fingers. In this article, we will […]

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Could multivitamin use in pregnancy protect children from autism?

Could multivitamin use in pregnancy protect children from autism?

The risk of autism may be reduced for children whose mothers use multivitamins during pregnancy. This is the finding of new research published in The BMJ. Researchers have linked multivitamin use in pregnancy with a lower risk of autism in offspring. Study co-author Brian K. Lee, of the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel […]

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How does oxytocin control the brain’s social reward circuit?

How does oxytocin control the brain’s social reward circuit?

Although several studies have pointed to oxytocin, or the “love hormone,” as an important factor in promoting sociability, the mechanisms behind this remain unknown. Researchers from Stanford University have now looked into how oxytocin regulates the social reward mechanism in the brain. Oxytocin, the “love hormone,” is a key factor of our social abilities, but not much is […]

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Folic acid may mitigate autism risk from pesticides

Folic acid may mitigate autism risk from pesticides

Researchers at UC Davis and other institutions have shown that mothers who take recommended amounts of folic acid around conception might reduce their children’s pesticide-related autism risk. In the study, children whose mothers took 800 or more micrograms of folic acid (the amount in most prenatal vitamins) had a significantly lower risk of developing autism […]