UC Davis MIND Institute

Research Studies

Items of Interest

2012 Summer Institute SAVE THE DATE (PDF)

Brain Endowment for Autism Research Sciences (BEARS)

A Message from Leonard Abbeduto, Director (FLASH)

Distinguished Lecturer Series

Minds behind the MIND Lectures

Community Support

Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities

Advancing Toward a Cure

Vision

The UC Davis MIND Institute (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders) is a collaborative international research center, committed to the awareness, understanding, prevention, care, and cure of neurodevelopmental disorders.

In 1998, six visionary families, five who have sons with autism, helped found the UC Davis MIND Institute. These founders are the Beneto, Gardner, Hayes, Rollens, Tsakopoulos, and Vismara families. Their vision? To bring experts from neuroscience to education, from molecular biology to developmental pediatrics, from occupational therapy to psychiatry, to work together toward a common goal: curing neurodevelopmental disorders, starting with autism. Our research projects have since expanded to include Down Syndrome, Tourette Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Chromosome 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome. Learn more…

News Releases

May 2012

New virtual reality study and book series help advance educational opportunities for children with autism

May 1, 2012 — UC Davis autism researcher and education specialist Peter Mundy has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to apply virtual-reality technology to evaluate social attention and its relation to academic achievement among school children with autism.

April 2012

UC Davis, Sacramento State to hold Summer Institute on Neurodevelopmental Disorders

April 30, 2012 — The annual Summer Institute on Neurodevelopmental Disorders Across the Lifespan, one of the nation's premier gatherings of educators, health professionals and families interested in advances in the field of neurodevelopmental disorders, will be held Friday, Aug.3 from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the University Union Ballroom, Sacramento State University, 6000 J Street in Sacramento.

MIND Institute lecture explores impact of inflammation on the brain

April 25, 2012 — Stephen Maier of the University of Colorado will discuss "The Role of Hippocampal Microglia in Age-Related Cognitive Decline" during the next UC Davis MIND Institute Distinguished Lecturer Series presentation.

Research shows how PCBs promote dendrite growth, may increase autism risk

April 24, 2012 — New research from UC Davis and Washington State University shows that PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, launch a cellular chain of events that leads to an overabundance of dendrites -- the filament-like projections that conduct electrochemical signals between neurons -- and disrupts normal patterns of neuronal connections in the brain.

For more news stories click here