Throat Cancer Gene

Researchers have identified a specific gene linked to throat cancer by conducting a genome-wide linkage study in a family with an unusual hereditary condition affecting 24 members over five generations. Nearly every person in the study with the condition had developed throat cancer at a young age. Researchers studied 13 affected members and 13 unaffected members, and found a single mutation in the ATR gene in all the affected people. See Cell journal online.

Parent Training for Autism

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) with serious behavior problems responded better to medication combined with training for their parents than to medication alone. Researchers randomly assigned 124 children, ages 4–13, with ASDs and behavioral problems, to medication alone or medication plus structured parent training. After six months, both groups showed improvement, but the medication/training group showed greater improvement on several measures of adaptive functioning. Visit the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

After Concussion...

Physiological problems from a concussion may last longer than previously expected. Researchers studied nine college athletes who had been concussed within the previous 24 hours and found changes in motor evoked potentials that did not follow the same recovery pattern as symptoms and neuropsychological test performance. The apparent differential rates of recovery may indicate different pathophysiological processes occurring immediately postconcussion. Search "Livingston" and "concussion" at the Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology.