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Eye gaze and real-life early detection tools: An interview with researchers from Duke

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What babies look at during development and how much time they spend looking at people vs things has received a lot of criticism from some advocates who feel scientists should be spending less time on differences and more on practical solutions. Those two concepts are getting closer and closer and our early understandings of early autism features are now turning into applications to help better and earlier identification of ASD. This week, we talk to Geri Dawson and George Chang at Duke University who used these findings to piloted an app on an iPad. This app shows early promise of being used in a pediatricians office to support faster referral of toddlers for services and intervention.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33900383/

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Potential of therapy cats, training for parents, and help for families of diverse backgrounds

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What do cats, the Developmental Check-In and parent training all have in common? They all have the documented potential to help children gain emotional skills, social skills, and receive earlier intervention. A small study shows the potential of a well-tempered cat in easing symptoms of autism. Parent training has been shown time and time again to improve functioning across different domains and a new screening tool based on visual scenarios has been validated in Hispanic populations. Thank you for listening this week!

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33290937/

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=33303635

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33287762/

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Help for those with minimal verbal ability

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On this week’s ASF weekly science podcast, we provide a recent review on influences of speech and language both in those with ASD who are verbally fluent, as those who have minimal verbal ability. What does the brain look like in those with minimal verbal ability and are there interventions to help improve social communication ability in those with not just minimal verbal ability but also cognitive disability? What are some early markers or behaviors that predict understanding and communicating? Listen to learn more.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32909382/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32881387/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32827357/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32812191/

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Sex differences: It’s not about the diagnostic measurements.

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A fresh take on an existing topic: why there are more boys diagnosed with ASD than girls. Even from a few months old, girls are different than boys, and they show subtle differences in toddlerhood. But at the time of diagnosis, they score the same on standardized instruments of ASD used to categorize someone as having ASD or not. This means it isn’t about the measures. It could be cultural factors, it could be a protective effect, but there needs to be a better understanding of these differences across the lifespan to help everyone with ASD, especially females.

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/retrieve/pii/S096098222030419X?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS096098222030419X%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04526-z

https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13242

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Families work hard for treatments

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Unfortunately, families hear more about what does work to help families with ASD rather than what does not work. But through the course of decades of research, scientific projects and hours of families participation, there is a better picture of what treatments are, and are not, helpful. This week’s podcast will review what drugs have shown to not be effective so far in treating restrictive and repetitive behaviors and also provides an update on umbilical cord blood stem cell transfusions on social communication behaviors.

https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(20)30334-6/pdf

https://jaacap.org/article/S0890-8567(20)30265-3/pdf

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What works and does not work for wandering and sleep

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This week a new study showed that kids with autism wander as early as toddlers, so parents keep a close eye on your kids no matter what their age.  Medications do not work, but behavioral interventions do seem to help.  This podcast gives some examples.   Also, another study shows the efficacy and safety of melatonin for helping kids with ASD fall asleep and stay asleep, even after 2 years.   Melatonin may not be the magic bullet we need for sleep problems, but it doesn’t seem to hurt either.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31977588

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30838492

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31982581

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Environmental factors: the forgotten stepchild of autism spectrum disorders

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When people hear the word “heritability” in mathematical estimates, they automatically think “just genetics”.  That isn’t true, and this week epidemiologist Brian Lee from Drexel talks us through his SpectrumNews viewpoint about what heritability actually is and why there is room for environment.  Also this week, twin studies, which have traditionally used the word heritability to distinguish genetic vs. environmental interactions, are studied in a new light.  This one shows that severity and differences of autism across the spectrum in identical twins are caused by environmental differences – not just genetics.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31853901

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Seizures and the after-effects depends on genetics

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In recognition of epilepsy awareness month, this week we are interviewing Jill Silverman and Nycole Copping from UC Davis who published a paper looking at the causes and consequences of seizures across 3 different strains of mice, which are identical all but their background genetics.  This is important because new animal models of autism are built upon these different background strains, but very little work has been done to really understand how these different tiny changes in genetic background influences response to an environmental factor.  In this study the environmental factor was a drug that produces seizures.  Two out of the three strains showed seizures and all three showed some behavioral after-effects of the seizure – inducing drug.  Therefore, differences in background genetics influenced the outcome of the mice, an effect that is rarely studied.  The authors point out what these behaviors are, what they mean, and why animal models are important for understanding ASD and seizures.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31698263