What's New in the Research Field?

Penn Nursing Autism Research Tops in TIME - TIME magazine has named Penn Nursing’s pioneering research on autism and low birthweight one of the “Top 10 New Findings in Parenting” of 2011. In October, Penn Nursing Professor Jennifer Pinto-Martin, PhD, MPH, and colleagues reported in Pediatrics that premature infants are five times more likely to have autism than children born at normal weight.

Autistic Children with Epilepsy are Often Sensitive to Light - "...Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston reviewed the records of children diagnosed with autism between December 2010 and May 2011. To be included in the study, the children were to have had an electroencephalogram (EEG) either prior to or during the search period to determine the presence or absence of photoparoxysmal response (PPR) to intermittent photic stimulation. During the EEG, sensors are attached to the patient’s scalp to monitor the electrical activity of the brain in various conditions, including light stimulation. An abnormal response indicates the presence of photosensitivity.