Prominent school pushes for more research on cognitive disorders

Officials from Johns Hopkins Brain Sciences Institute recently announced that it has given grants totaling $5 million to different researcher groups at the school to launch the new Synapses, Circuits and Cognitive Disorders Program.

The new program is geared toward helping researchers understand the fundamentals of brain function by focusing on the point of contacts between two nerve cells. This may lead to studies that can better explain cognitive disorders such as autism and schizophrenia in the future.

Officials said that recent studies have shown that the disruption of synaptic function is the cause of many cognitive disorders. They added that the money is partly aimed toward performing large-scale, genome-wide genetic analyses to seek patterns in autism spectrum disorders.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, individuals who suffer from autism exhibit difficulties in language and communication as well as have unusual behaviors and interests. Furthermore, 1 in 110 children have the condition in the U.S.

Therapeutic boarding schools can provide autistic children with cognitive therapy to improve their communication and language deficiencies.