We provide comprehensive news and analysis of advances in autism research. Through our work we hope to catalyze new collaborations and perspectives on autism.
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Anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was denounced last week by his brother, sister and niece for spreading misinformation.
The relatives say the family has for decades been committed to vaccines and that Mr. Kennedy’s anti-vaccine messages are putting children at risk.
3-D brain organoids offer a new window onto the effects of oxygen deprivation on the developing brain.
Brain organoids derived from human iPSCs are used to study the effects of hypoxia on early cortical neurodevelopment and identify defects in specific human progenitor populations that likely contribute to encephalopathy of prematurity.
Clinicians can reliably diagnose autism in some toddlers roughly two years earlier than the typical age of diagnosis, a new study suggests.
Clinicians can reliably diagnose autism roughly two years earlier than the typical age of diagnosis.
The ‘broad autism phenotype’ is a subclinical constellation of autism-like traits that appears in about half of parents and siblings of autistic people. Studying BAP could reveal more of autism’s complex genetics.
The relatives of autistic people often have mild traits of the condition. Studying these family members could broaden our understanding of autism.
Study: When new neurons are born in the embryonic brain, they contain epigenetic signals that allow a diversity of neuron types to develop.
Although the main task of a neuroprogenitor is to produce more cells, it may not always produce the same cells. Some progenitors produce different daughter neurons as an embryo develops. Concurrently, these daughter neurons are also transitioning through states toward maturation. Telley et al. used....
What has a brain chemical linked to depression got to do with autism?
Interest in serotonin’s role in autism has grown in the past five years. Here’s what we know so far about serotonin’s role in autism.
Serotonin, the brain chemical best known for its link to depression, may also be involved in autism.
Autistic adults report that the ability to hyperfocus, attention to detail, good memory and creativity are the strengths that help them most in their daily lives.
Abstract Background: Autism has been associated with specific cognitive strengths. Strengths and weaknesses have traditionally been conceptualized as dichotomous. Methods: We conducted 28 semi-stru...
The Northern Ireland government is not doing nearly enough to support autistic people living in the country. That needs to change, fast.
Autism's prevalence in Northern Ireland is climbing, but government policies leave families unable to access the treatments they need.
Genetic variants associated with neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, seem to affect multiple brain circuits and cognitive traits in children.
The 13 ND-CNVs studied have a similar range of adverse effects on childhood neurodevelopment, despite subtle quantitative and qualitative differences. Genomic risk for neuropsychiatric disorder has pleiotropic effects on multiple processes and neural circuits and indicates that future research shoul...
The databases used in genetics research consist overwhelmingly of genomes from people of European descent — that is a huge problem for genetic medicine. But how best to fix it?
To boost the participation of marginalized communities in genetic studies, doctors must first win back their trust.
An enzyme called SETD2 helps regulate the maternal epigenome in mice, thereby playing an important role in embryonic development.
Maternal SETD2 deficiency leads to loss of H3K36me3, aberrant DNA methylation and ectopic H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 in mouse oocytes. Maternal depletion of SETD2 causes oocyte defects and subsequent zygotic arrest.
Organizers of the world’s biggest autism research conference nimbly walked a tightrope this year, aiming to satisfy the meeting’s diverse mix of attendees. The offerings largely satisfied scientists pushing for a focus on biology, while also including enough sessions on social issues to please others.
The conference’s planning committee plans to bolster biology even more at the next two meetings in Seattle and Boston, too.
The offerings at this year's international autism conference largely satisfied scientists pushing for a focus on biology, while also including enough sessions on social issues to please others.
Rapid advances in genomic technology may put clinicians at risk of lawsuits.
Science has the story.
Experts want clearer laws, regulations as medical standards evolve
Autistic teenagers receive fewer support services with each passing year in high school, leading to a “post‐high school service cliff.”
RESEARCH ARTICLE Loss in Services Precedes High School Exit for Teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Longitudinal Study Daniel J. Laxman Utah State University, Logan, UtahSearch for more papers by this author Julie Lounds Taylor Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TennesseeSearch for....
Ultra Testing, a New York-based software testing company, actively hires people on the spectrum and fosters their natural talents, such as the ability recognize patterns and hyperfocus.
Ultra Testing is helping lead the way for companies embracing neurodiversity: “We’re staffing these teams with fantastically capable talent who just haven’t had a fair shot before.”
Musicians with perfect pitch — the ability to identify or create a specific musical note without a reference tone — have brain connectivity patterns like those of autistic individuals.
Recent studies indicate increased autistic traits in musicians with absolute pitch and a higher proportion of absolute pitch in people with autism. Theoretical accounts connect both of these with shared neural principles of local hyper- and global hypoconnectivity, enhanced perceptual functioning, a...
Helen Hoang’s novels feature autistic individuals — like herself — who live full lives, fall in love and find happiness.
Helen Hoang's romances feature characters on the autism spectrum — as she herself is; she says she wants to show that autistic people can get their happily-ever-afters just like anyone else.
The social interactions, constant email and chat notifications and other distractions of a typical office can make it difficult for neurodivergent individuals to thrive in a traditional work environment.
Work spaces today come with strong smells, harsh light, lots of chatter, and constant messages on email or Slack. For neurodivergent people, this can be a big ask.
Male prairie voles exposed to oxytocin at birth are unusually social as adults, suggesting that the hormone, commonly used to induce labor in people, has long-term developmental effects.
Oxytocin is used in approximately half of all births in the United States during labor induction and/or augmentation. However, the effects of maternal oxytocin administration on offspring development have not been fully characterized. Here, we used the socially monogamous prairie vole to examine the...
Scientists at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting highlighted an investigational drug to treat Angelman syndrome as a breakthrough, though it has raised several red flags for investors.
STAT reports.
The debate over whether OV101 is a beacon of hope or a scientific nonstarter comes down to the metric Ovid chose to measure its benefits.
Scientists are on the hunt for anti-CRISPR proteins and chemicals that could turn off the gene-editing tool if needed.
Powerful gene-editing tools have the potential to heal—or to harm. Now there’s a race to develop the antidote to the next bioweapon.
ICYMI: Get your weekly dose of autism research news from around the web, with Spotted!
Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 6 May.
Brain organoids — tiny balls of cells that mimic the structure and function of the human brain — can now survive for up to a year.
Until now, they have been able to survive for just 2-3 months.
A new method for growing brain organoids allows them to survive for up to a year — more than four times as long as is possible with other methods.
Male prairie voles exposed to oxytocin at birth are unusually social as adults, suggesting that the hormone, commonly used to induce labor in people, may have long-term developmental effects.
Oxytocin is used in approximately half of all births in the United States during labor induction and/or augmentation. However, the effects of maternal oxytocin administration on offspring development have not been fully characterized. Here, we used the socially monogamous prairie vole to examine the...
How is autism diagnosed? What explains the rise in autism’s prevalence? How much do genes contribute to the condition? What about the environment?
This is Autism 101.
https://www.spectrumnews.org/features/special-reports/autism-101/
Patterns of chemical tags on the DNA of autistic people could reveal clues to the condition and lead to treatments.
A thought-provoking Viewpoint, for #ThrowbackThursday.
The landscape of chemical modifications on the DNA of people with autism could reveal clues to the condition and lead to treatments.
The overall ratio of boys to girls among children diagnosed with autism is 3-to-1. Scientists have suggested many theories for this sex bias: that girls are partially protected from mutations that cause the condition, for example.
This new work suggests seizure disorders override this protection.
The ratio of autistic boys to girls is roughly the same among children with epilepsy, according to a new meta-analysis.
Are girls and women biologically shielded from autism?
We examine the evidence for this leading theory of autism.
One of the leading theories of autism posits that girls and women are biologically protected from the condition.
Neuron-sized electrodes may soon capture long-term recordings from animal brains without causing tissue damage.
For a hair-thin probe penetrating the brain to listen in on neurons' electrical chatter, finesse is key. It's easy to rip tissue on the way in. And once in place, a probe can do further damage that muffles the signals it aims to detect. But recent reports describe a generation of finer probes that s...
Exposure to inflammation in the womb affects the brain and behavior of males and females differently, two new mouse studies suggest.
If the results hold up in people, they might help to explain why autism presents differently in boys and girls.
Exposure to inflammation in the womb may affect the brain and behavior of males and females differently.
An online public school in Colorado is helping autistic children learn at home, in an environment where they are comfortable.
For some, an autism diagnosis can mean limited options for students who struggle to learn in a traditional classroom.
The predictive coding theory holds that our experience of the world comes from within — in autism, the theory goes, an autistic person’s brain doesn’t form accurate predictions, skewing their perception.
In autism, a person's brain may not form accurate predictions of imminent experiences, or even if it does, sensory input may override those predictions.
This year's meeting of the International Society for Autism Research featured a wealth of new science — but a few key themes came to the fore.
Autism genetics and environmental influences were both hot topics. New investigations into suicide, self-injury and improving healthcare for autistic people were also among the notable science presentations.
The 18th annual meeting of the International Society for Autism Research has drawn to a close. The conference brought together a diverse set of autism researchers from around the world to share their results, exchange ideas and spark new collaborations. Spectrum’s reporters were there, too, coveri...
There are no medications approved for autism, but some drugs do modify autism-associated behaviors.
This is the case for clinicians to prescribe drugs off-label to autistic children and adolescents.
Clinicians need a more consistent and evidence-based approach to prescribing antipsychotics to children and adolescents with autism.
Social media is connecting families with researchers who study rare conditions related to autism — to the benefit of both.
Our new podcast host Kaitlyn Schwalje explains.
Social media is connecting families with researchers who study rare conditions related to autism — to the benefit of both.
The inaugural issue of a new journal, Autism in Adulthood, has been published.
A social website called GeneMatcher has helped researchers identify a new gene for intellectual disability, developmental delay and, possibly, autism — BRSK2.
A website called GeneMatcher has helped researchers identify a new gene for intellectual disability, developmental delay and autism.
New insights on the long-term effects of medical transitioning are emerging from the largest study of transgender people.
A study examines once taboo questions about the impacts of gender transition.
Irondequoit, New York, has been designated an ‘Autism Friendly Community.'
Irondequoit has been designated an Autism Friendly Community. Members of the Autism Council of Rochester presented a proclamation to town leaders at the Irondequoit Town Board meeting on Tuesday. The honor recognizes the town's support for individuals on the autism spectrum. This comes during the an...
A video of a gene being turned on is enabling scientists to visualize the dynamics of this fundamental cellular event.
Only recently have scientists directly witnessed this most pivotal of events in biology, thanks to new technology that allows them to observe the process in living cells. It’s teaching them a lot.
BREAKING: A survey that estimates autism prevalence in the United States includes far too few black families to yield accurate data, according to a new study.
A national survey that estimates autism prevalence includes too few black families to yield accurate data for that demographic.
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Tune in now to our webinar with Evelina Fedorenko on language development and processing and autism!
Mice have long been the mainstay of autism research, but some scientists are using rats to study the condition instead. What advantage do rat models have over their murine counterparts? Expert Jill Silverman makes her case.
Curious about rat models of autism? Tune in now to our webinar to find out how researchers use these models to study this human condition.
Many of the everyday activities that autistic people find challenging are extraordinarily complex. To get to the root of these problems, researchers are looking closely at a part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex.
Watch live! Ivan Iossifov is discussing the genetic basis of autism’s core features.
Tune in now to our Facebook Live with Christine Wu Nordahl, who is presenting her work on expanding autism brain-imaging studies!
Morénike Giwa Onaiwu explores the complications race and ethnicity can layer on top of an autism diagnosis.
For people on the spectrum, the physical space they occupy can go a long way in providing a sense of comfort and support. Architects are working with schools to create welcoming, versatile spaces for autistic students.
How do you design spaces for autism? There is a difference between being accommodating and being purposeful.
How can we predict and track autism's heterogeneity over time? Stelio's Georgiades presents a model for tracing autistic children's trajectories.
Curious about how genes interact with environment to shape autism? Expert Janine LaSalle describes the latest research.
Want to know more about maternal immune activity and autism? Researcher Judy Van de Water explains what you need to know, and presents her latest research on how the immune system may shape autism.
Curious about the maternal immune system and autism? Tune in to our Facebook live now!
Autism research has a race problem. The bulk of autism studies involving pepple are mostly made up of participants who are white. That means that most of what we think we know about autism is largely based on science that doesn't reflect the true diversity of the condition. There's evidence that people from minority groups are underdiagnosed. At the same time, racial disparities exist in other areas of life — from everyday social interactions to economic opportunities — all of which intersect with autism. In this video, Morénike Giwa Onaiwu explores the complications race and ethnicity can layer on top of an autism diagnosis.
Tune in to the Spectrum Journal Club! Researcher Andrea Ganna presents a paper exploring rare genetic variation in brain conditions such as autism. Ask your questions for Ganna in the comments!
Finding and keeping a job can be a struggle for many people on the spectrum — for a variety of reasons. While splashy corporate initiatives and programs to hire more people with autism make headlines, there's still little research into employment among autistic adults. In this video, Sara Luterman describes her own experiences as an autistic person in the workplace, and highlights the dearth of research into this area.
People on the spectrum fall in love. They marry. They have children. But this truth has been widely ignored by scientists and the wider public. In this video, Lindsey Nebeker talks about her own experiences of love and autism.
Most autism research — and, by extension, most stories about autism — focuses on men and their experiences. To shine a spotlight on women with autism, on 28 March, Spectrum teamed up with the science-storytelling venue Caveat in New York City. Three autistic women talked about their experiences dating, looking for jobs and the particular challenges that racial minorities with the condition can face. Here is just a snippet of what they had to say.
Curious about cannabis-based treatments for epilepsy? Join us live now with expert Orrin Devinksy. Ask your questions in the comments field below.
What is it like to be a woman on the spectrum? Three autistic women share their experiences with love, finding a job and the challenges of being both autistic and not white.
Autism may stem from problems with connectivity, or communication between distant parts of the brain. As autism theories go, that one has solid support. For that reason, the corpus callosum deserves special attention. Our video explains what the corpus callosum is and how it may be involved in autism.
Our Autism Anchors Raphael Bernier and James Mancini, report the latest findings on sleep and autism. They describe the causes and consequences of sleep disruptions in autism — and what to do about them. From science to the community and back again, you can count on getting the inside scoop in digestible quantities with a smile from the Autism Anchors.
Our Autism Anchors, Raphael Bernier and James Mancini, explain how mouse models can help scientists understand the causes of autism and evaluate potential treatments for the condition. From science to the community and back again, you can count on getting the inside scoop in digestible quantities with a smile from the Autism Anchors.
Each of these images was created using one of four new techniques for imaging the brain, expanding our view of its incredible complexity. To read more about how these images were created, check out our story here: https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/toolbox/imaging-approaches-expand-view-brains-complexity/
Tune in to Zhen Yan's presentation of her paper, which details a novel treatment for social deficits in an autism mouse model.
The evolution of 'autism' as a diagnosis, explained.
Join us for a webinar with Shafali Jeste, assistant professor of psychiatry and neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, and a lead investigator at the university’s Center for Autism Research and Treatment. You can learn more about Jeste's work here: https://www.semel.ucla.edu/profile/shafali-jeste
Watch the complete replay of our roundtable on the utility of the DSM-5’s diagnostic criteria for autism! The debate features autism experts Catherine Lord, Sally Rogers and David Skuse. Find out more here: https://spectrumnews.org/features/multimedia/webinars/roundtable-debating-diagnostic-criteria-autism/
Watch it here: Expert Mayada Elsabbagh discusses the state of autism research across different international settings — and what needs to be done to make autism research a truly global enterprise.
Get the inside scoop from our Autism Anchors on the connections between autism and ADHD!
Yale University Professor James McPartland's presents on the hunt for clinically useful biomarkers for autism and gives the inside scoop on his lab's latest research into biomarkers of social communication.
In the latest episode of Inside Scoop, the Autism Anchors Raphael Bernier and James Mancini give their two cents on the hottest autism research of 2017.
We asked autism researchers to enter the Spectrum science image contest. From sensational stem-cell snapshots to a ‘furry’ close-up of the hippocampus, these are the 10 top pics.
Earlier this year, two labs published research that explored different therapeutic approaches for Rett syndrome, a condition characterized by breathing problems, intellectual disability and often autism. In this journal club, we get the inside scoop direct from the researchers on how they did the research and its implications for treating Rett in the future.
What can robots offer people with autism? In our latest webinar, expert Brian Scassellati discusses socially assistive robots and how they can be used in autism research and therapy.
On the website of the company neurocore an illustration of an anthropomorphized human brain, complete with hopeful eyes and a wide smile, is pumping iron. “A stronger brain makes anything possible,” says the tagline next to the cheery brain. This concept — body-building for the brain — is known as neurofeedback, and Neurocore touts it as a treatment for autism. There’s no solid evidence that neurofeedback works as a treatment for autism. Read our investigation into Neurocore's claims here: https://spectrumnews.org/news/despite-dearth-data-firms-sell-brain-training-autism-antidote/
ICYMI, watch the replay of our inaugural journal club, in which we discussed two recently published papers exploring the role of mosaic mutations in autism!
How can researchers better recreate complex social scenarios to study autism in the lab? Dan Kennedy, a professor at Indiana University, shared his strategies with us. Watch the complete video here!
What promise do ‘affinities,' the name given to special interests, have for autism research and therapy?
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