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An Explanation of Some of the Recent Scientific Research Announcements

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The past couple of weeks have been a flurry of decisions involving government funding for research and health and wellness services. It’s been difficult to understand their impact without understanding the process in which science is evaluated for funding and policies around support of universities where the research takes place. In this podcast, we will clarify what environmental factors are associated with autism (not vaccines), summarize how grants are reviewed and what effect stopping them will have, and explain new rules around how much money research institutions receive in order to support that research, those “indirect costs” and what cutting them will mean for Research Institutions.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39891002

https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-25-068.html

Click to access actinghhssecretarymemoaction2212025-1737591296147.pdf

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How IQ impacts the “will do” of skills: adaptive behaviors

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On this week’s podcast, Dr. Elaine Clarke from @RutgersU discusses the role of adaptive behavior. This refers to the wide range of skills that a person with autism can exhibit. Can they hold a conversation? Dress themselves? Prepare a meal? These sets of skills are strongly influenced by cognitive ability. Dr. Clarke will talk about the link between cognitive ability and adaptive behaviors and while there may be differences in the abilities across the spectrum, it means clinicians and families need to aim for what works best for their individual child. Read more below:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38317766

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39679971

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39056304
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Do Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Direct Current Stimulation help people with autism? The latest science here.

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Two therapies that are meant to alter brainwave activity, called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation are receiving a lot of attention for potential efficacy in treating autism. They are non-invasive, which means treatment is provided on the scalp. While results vary, the overall evidence does not support these two interventions in helping to treat core autism features. However, as TMS is approved for depression and OCD, people should ask their doctors about these potential treatments if they suffer from these conditions. Learn more in the articles below:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00787-024-02635-z

Click to access nihms-1934887.pdf

https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article-abstract/34/13/8/7661139?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false

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We missed one for the 2024 year end summary: Proof of the importance of genetic testing in autism

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It happens every year – this one belonged in the 2024 year end highlights but was published late in the year. Researchers at UCSD, UCLA and CHLA followed families with autism whose genetic test revealed a rare variant. Did it make a difference in care? Understanding? Referrals? If you are in need of a genetic test, here are some things to know: https://www.alliancegenda.org/genetic-testing

Reference here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1098360024002673

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The 2024 Autism Science Year in Review

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New Technologies, New Data, New Solutions

This year’s progress in autism research includes promising findings, clarifications, explanations, and the uncovering of new avenues of inquiry. The focus is now on personalized medicine: finding the right treatment for the right person at the right time through targeted interventions. Advances in technology and genetic testing are opening new avenues for therapeutics, rapid drug testing, and improved differentiation of subgroups of autism.

2024 Autism Science Review
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An update on why there are fewer autistic females compared to males

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This week, special podcast correspondent #MiaKotikovski summarizes new research on the increasing prevalence of autism, with a focus on females. While the number of diagnosed females is increasing faster than the number for males, females assigned at birth still are less likely to receive a diagnosis than males. Additional evidence points to females having more genetic mutations and lower cognitive ability, so the questions remain: Are there females with autism who are just not getting diagnosed despite having all the autism features? Why not? Does autism in females “look” the same as autism in males? What sets them apart? These articles are all featured in the year-end highlight of research, so this is the time to get a deep explanation of the latest in sex differences in #autism.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34563942

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39334436

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33966484

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Synaptic Density and Autism, explained

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….or at a podcast with at least an attempt at an explanation of what synaptic density is and how it is affected in brains of people with autism. This week we review three convergent lines of evidence – whole brain, brain cell then genes within those brain cells – that show that the autistic brain has a decrease in cell-to-cell communication in multiple brain regions, leading to social communication impairments.

https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.adh2602?casa_token=bjtbuFi5U88AAAAA:_ffcE-pGCPxh4re24ix_xDgenAS1cAgDHLIMJJQCCG_1LvxaJKrGwEb9LFuMNsTYhvtGqRwro1A1Smc

https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article-abstract/34/13/121/7661138?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false#no-access-message

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39367053

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Health Concerns Across 3 Generations

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Are you the grandparent, cousin, aunt, uncle, sibling, or half-sibling of someone with autism and wondered “what is the likelihood of autism in families, and the likelihood of comorbid conditions if I have a family member with autism?” Researchers at the AJ Drexel Autism Research Institute and Aarhus University in Denmark collaborated to calculate probabilities between autism in a person and dozens of other comorbid conditions in family members. They not only made the paper open to the public for everyone to read it, but they also created a publicly available data visualization tool so anyone can go on and look at specific situations of particular family relationships relating to anything from autoimmune conditions to mental health and psychiatric diagnosis. Links below for reference:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39283002

Interactive graphs: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/diana.schendel/viz/ASDPlots_16918786403110/e-Figure5

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Stigma experienced around the world

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Despite many years fighting it, families with autism still experience societal stigma. The experiences depend on many factors, summarized in the October 21st podcast. This week, Mia Kotikovski explores cultural factors involved in stigma. As examples, she explores the literature from Asia, the Middle East and the United Kingdom, how they are different, and how families cope with that stigma in different areas of the world.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40489-023-00373-7

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9330163

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-019-04218-3

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-23978-0

https://molecularautism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13229-023-00579-w

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0261774

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aur.2652