IU Scores Funding For Autism Research
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA team of Indiana University researchers has landed a $900,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health. The funding will support a study on the relation between developing a fever and the relief of some symptoms of autism.
The research will examine what the school calls "a growing number of anecdotal reports" from parents of children with autism saying the onset of fever appears to temporarily relieve some of the social symptoms of the condition.
The study will be led by professor Jeffrey Alberts and assistant research scientist Christopher Harshaw from the IU Bloomington College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
In a release from Indiana University, Alberts said, "Like many research topics, the phenomenon isn't totally unknown, but exact mechanisms linking body temperature and autism haven't yet been organized as a principle and unpacked to see how it could work."
The scientists say findings from the study on mice could hold "great promise" for human application.