Dr Emma Weisblatt

Consultant Child Psychiatrist

Emma is a child and adolescent psychiatrist, pursuing research in the area of autism and Asperger's syndrome. Her particular research interests are in auditory perception in autism and Asperger's syndrome, studies of stress and psychiatric problems in the families of autistic children, and the genetics of autism.

Children and adults with autistic spectrum disorders often have prominent problems hearing sounds, particularly speech, when there is background noise and are also often hypersensitive to sounds (hyperacusis). Emma is currently performing a number of psychophysical studies that are beginning to give clues about what might be causing these difficulties, and hopes to be able to make suggestions as to what might help, particularly in the classroom. Together with Dr José Alcántara, Emma is planning a program of research systematically to investigate the mechanisms of these auditory difficulties at different levels in the auditory system.

With Patrick Bolton Emma has been performing assessments of the relatives of children with autism, with two main aims: firstly, to assess the levels of stress involved in parenting children with autism and investigate its relationship to psychiatric problems of anxiety in depression; secondly, to investigate the broader phenotype of the autistic spectrum by performing personality measures and specialised interviews for broader phenotype characteristics.

Emma is also a member of the International Molecular Genetics Study of Autism Consortium (IMGSAC), a large collaborative effort investigating the molecular genetic basis of autism and autism spectrum disorders.

Publications

Weisblatt, E.J., & Alcántara, J.I. (submitted). Auditory Perception in Autism: A Review of Research and New Directions. Submitted to Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Alcántara, J.I., Weisblatt, E.J., Moore, B.C.J., & Bolton, P.F. (2004). Speech perception in high-functioning subjects with autism or Asperger's syndrome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, pp.1107-1114.

Bolton, P.F., Veltman, M.W.M., Weisblatt E., et al. (2004). Chromosome 15q11-13 abnormalities and other medical conditions in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Psychiatry Genetics, 14(3), pp.131-137.

Plaisted, K.C., Saksida, L., Alcántara, J.I., & Weisblatt, E.J. (2003). Towards an understanding of the mechanisms of weak central coherence: experiments in configural learning and auditory perception. Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, 358 (1430), pp.375-386.