News

Over the past year, NICHD contributed to numerous scientific advances and key initiatives.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded nine research grants totaling nearly $100 million over the next five years for the Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE), a program that supports large research projects aimed at understanding and developing interventions for autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

How children visually engage with others in social situations is a heritable behavior that is altered in children with autism, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

NICHD Director Dr. Diana Bianchi and colleagues from other NIH Institutes discuss this valuable research resource.

An imaging technique called fcMRI may predict which high-risk, 6-month old infants will develop autism spectrum disorder by age 2 years, according to an NICHD-funded study.

Brain changes at age 6 or 12 months may help predict the development of autism spectrum disorder by age 2 years among infants with a high family risk, according to a study funded by NICHD.

Parents previously investigated for child abuse, showed more positive responses to their baby’s social and emotional needs after completing a home-visit program, according to a study supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

NICHD had a very productive year in 2016. Staff responded quickly to Zika virus and led the effort to develop the NIH Research Plan on Rehabilitation. The following snapshots are examples of the many advances made possible by NICHD this year.

NICHD Director Dr. Diana Bianchi shares some thoughts about joining NICHD.

For people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), early detection and early intervention can help a great deal in improving outcomes. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that health care providers screen for ASD at the 18-month and 24-month visits. Meanwhile, researchers are working to develop screening tools that can detect the disorder even earlier.

NICHD needs your input for NIH’s All of Us program.

Over the past year, NICHD contributed to numerous scientific advances and key initiatives.

NIH seeks input on a proposed new research program to assess biological, chemical, psychosocial, and other environmental influences on child health outcomes. Join one of NIH’s webinars to learn more.

The Cincinnati MR Imaging of Neurodevelopment (C-MIND) study was launched in 2009 to establish a new resource for the research community: a database of scans showing the structure and activity of the growing brain. C-MIND has taken an unprecedented look at what’s going on inside the heads of hundreds of kids from ages 0 to 18.

NICHD supports a variety of research projects and networks that are useful to neuroscientists. Find a detailed list here.

When animals are present, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have lower readings on a device that detects anxiety and other forms of social arousal when interacting with their peers.

More than 50 million Americans, about 1 in 5 people, are living with a disability. People with disabilities tend to be less physically active than people without disabilities and have higher rates of corresponding health problems such as obesity, heart disease, hypertension and stroke.

A recent survey shows that one in four young children (ages birth to 5) are at moderate to high risk for developmental, behavioral, or social delays.1 To raise awareness of these risks and promote early screening, the NICHD has joined the Administration for Children and Families and a number of other federal partners in launching Birth to 5: Watch Me Thrive!

Most of the genetic risk for autism comes from versions of genes that are common in the population rather than from rare variants or spontaneous glitches, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have found. Heritability also outweighed other risk factors in this largest study of its kind to date.

The hormone oxytocin appears to increase social behaviors in newborn rhesus monkeys, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health, the University of Parma in Italy, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The findings indicate that oxytocin is a promising candidate for new treatments for developmental disorders affecting social skills and bonding.