The Autism Spectrum

A cognitive neuroscientist explores autism, Asperger's syndrome, and related disorders.

Lindsay M. Oberman, Ph.D. is a cognitive neuroscientist studying autism spectrum disorders. See full bio

May 13, 2008

Do Mercury or Vaccines Cause Autism?

Very hot and very controversial topic in the autism literature is whether mercury or vaccines or mercury in vaccines cause autism. In my opinion, No. Now a different question is whether mercury or vaccines are harmful to certain children either in utero or later in development. To this, my answer is maybe. Let's first look at the statements commonly used to support the belief that vaccines cause autism. Read More

May 4, 2008

Has the prevalence of ASD actually increased over the past several years, or are we just better at diagnosing it?

After telling people that I am a researcher studying autism, I am often asked the above question. Unfortunately, there is no straight answer for this question. If one goes back in the literature, it is true that for decades (several studies conducted from 1966-late 1990's) the prevalence estimates were on the order of 4-5:10,000 while studies conducted over the past decade have estimated the prevalence on the order of 2-6:1,000 with one study showing as high as 12:1,000. So, why this difference? Is it a real increase in the prevalence of the disorder or something else? Read More

April 22, 2008

Let Me Introduce Myself

I first want to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Lindsay Oberman. I am a researcher in Boston Massachusetts and am currently working at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center of Harvard Medical School. My research over the past several years has focused on the brain basis of autism spectrum disorders. Read More

Autism Basics

Autism is a complex syndrome that resulting from abnormalities in the brain's development. Common features include impaired social interactions, impaired verbal and nonverbal communication, problems processing sensory information, and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. A recent study of a U.S.

Go to the Autism Spectrum Basics page for more on Autism Spectrum including:

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