Posts tagged disorder
Boulder Bridgehouse
Nov 25th
Jann talks with some people from the Boulder Bridgehouse who help homeless people get back on their feet by providing assistance with food, medication, housing and employment.
CU: study links autism symptons to gut germs
Dec 19th
gut microbes called ‘groundbreaking’
in CU-Boulder-authored journal article
A new study showing that feeding mice a beneficial type of bacteria can ameliorate autism-like symptoms is “groundbreaking,” according to University of Colorado Boulder Professor Rob Knight, who co-authored a commentary piece about the research appearing in the current issue of the journal Cell.
The autism study, published today in the same issue of Cell, strengthens the recent scientific understanding that the microbes that live in your gut may affect what goes on in your brain. It is also the first to show that a specific probiotic may be capable of reversing autism-like behaviors in mice.
“The broader potential of this research is obviously an analogous probiotic that could treat subsets of individuals with autism spectrum disorder,” wrote the commentary authors, who also included CU-Boulder Research Associate Dorota Porazinska and doctoral student Sophie Weiss.
The study underscores the importance of the work being undertaken by the newly formed Autism Microbiome Consortium, which includes Knight as well as commentary co-authors Jack Gilbert of the University of Chicago and Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown of Arizona State University. The interdisciplinary consortium—which taps experts in a range of disciplines from psychology to epidemiology—is investigating the autism-gut microbiome link.
For the new Cell study, led by Elaine Hsiao of the California Institute of Technology, the researchers used a technique called maternal immune activation in pregnant mice to induce autism-like behavior and neurology in their offspring. The researchers found that the gut microbial community of the offspring differed markedly compared with a control group of mice. When the mice with autism-like symptoms were fed Bacteriodes fragilis, a microbe known to bolster the immune system, the aberrant behaviors were reduced.
Scientific evidence is mounting that the trillions of microbes that call the human body home can influence our gut-linked health, affecting our risk of obesity, diabetes and colon cancer, for example. But more recently, researchers are discovering that gut microbes also may affect neurology—possibly impacting a person’s cognition, emotions and mental health, said Knight, also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Scientist and an investigator at CU-Boulder’s BioFrontiers Institute.
The Autism Microbiome Consortium hopes to broaden this understanding by further studying the microbial community of autistic people, who tend to suffer from more gastrointestinal problems than the general public.
People with autism spectrum disorder who would like to have their gut microbes sequenced can do so now through the American Gut Project, a crowdfunded research effort led by Knight.
The consortium also includes Catherine Lozupone and Kimberly Johnson of CU-Boulder, James Adams of Arizona State University, Mady Hornig of Columbia University, Sarkis Mazmanian of the California Institute of Technology, John Alverdy of the University of Chicago and Janet Jansson of Lawrence Berkeley Lab.
For more information on the American Gut Project visit http://americangut.org.
-CU-
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CU panel: More help for kids w/mental disorders
Nov 7th
resources for families struggling
with behavioral concerns
Families seeking information about childhood psychiatric and developmental disorders are invited to a community open house with experts from the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Colorado School of Medicine on Wednesday, Nov. 13, on the CU-Boulder campus.
Experts will address emerging research on early onset bipolar disorder, prevention of schizophrenia, postpartum depression, attention and behavior disorders, and autism spectrum disorders. Each researcher also will describe their community services.
The event, “CU Community Open House: Behavioral Health Resources for Families,” is free and open to the public from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Wolf Law Building, room 207.
A panel of five researchers from the CU-Boulder Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and the CU School of Medicine will explain recent advances in their fields and local research conducted in their CU lab or clinic, as well as resources they offer to families.
The panel will include:
- Nomita Chhabildas, director of the Attention, Behavior and Learning Clinic at CU-Boulder [http://psych.colorado.edu/~clinical/raimy/child]
- Sona Dimidjian, director of the Center for Research, Evidence-based Services and Treatment (CREST) at CU-Boulder [http://psych-srv3.colorado.edu/~crest]
- Susan Hepburn, associate professor of psychiatry and director of research at JFK Partners at the CU School of Medicine [http://www.jfkpartners.org]
- Vijay Mittal, director of the Adolescent Development and Preventive Treatment Research Program (ADAPT) at CU-Boulder [http://www.adaptprogram.com]
- Dawn Taylor, lead psychologist and project coordinator for the Colorado Family Project based at CU-Boulder [http://www.coloradobipolar.com]
Christopher Schneck, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry at the CU School of Medicine and principal investigator for the Colorado Family Project, will address the pros and cons of receiving services in a research setting.
“Many people don’t realize that free or low-cost evidence-based services are available through a variety of groups at the University of Colorado,” Taylor said. “We invite the public to join us for an evening with local experts and to learn more about the fascinating research taking place in our community and how these programs may benefit local families.”
The brief presentations will be followed by a question-and-answer session and opportunities for attendees to speak individually with the presenters.
The Wolf Law Building is located at 2450 Kittredge Loop Road near the intersection of Baseline Road and Broadway. Parking in lots 402 and 470 is free after 5 p.m. For questions call 303-492-1668.
-CU-