Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
A decade after scientists announced the development of induced pluripotent stem cells, Waisman investigators, including Su-Chun Zhang and David Gamm, continue to use these cells to research and develop potential therapies for several disorders and conditions, such as ALS, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, and macular degeneration.
How did you get into your field of research? After I learned that the inner ear can produce sounds on its own and that the brain controls what we hear, I was hooked!
Currently there are few evidence-based programs available for families of individuals with ASD during the transition to adulthood. The present study provided a preliminary evaluation of a multi-family group psychoeducation intervention using a randomized waitlist control design (n = 41).
“We found that the folks with cerebellar damage responded to these unpredictable changes to a larger extent than those without any damage,” says Parrell. “It was totally unexpected.”
Empathy, the ability to understand others' emotions, can occur through perspective taking and experience sharing. Neural systems active when adults empathize include regions underlying perspective taking (e.g. medial prefrontal cortex; MPFC), and experience sharing (e.g. inferior parietal lobule; IPL).
Hormones present in hair provide summative information about endocrine activity while the hair was growing. Therefore, it can be collected from an infant after birth and still provide retrospective information about hormone exposure during prenatal development.
Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by accumulation of beta amyloid (Aβ) and hyperphosphorylated tau proteins, which neuropathology suggests follow distinct spatiotemporal patterns.
Rett syndrome (RTT) is a debilitating neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations in the MECP2 gene. To facilitate the study of cellular mechanisms in human cells, we established several human stem cell lines.
Children living in neighborhoods where incomes are low and fewer adults have bachelor’s degrees are less likely to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder compared to kids from more affluent neighborhoods. The finding is part of a new multi-institution study of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), led by Maureen Durkin of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Waisman …
A recent story in the New York Times discusses the trauma that parents experience after the death of a child. In particular, elderly parents who lose a child are vulnerable both emotionally and pragmatically. Waisman Center investigators Marsha Mailick, PhD, and Jan Greenberg, PhD, are quoted in the article and their research is highlighted. You …
