The latest autism research news stories with ASF Chief Science Officer Alycia Halladay
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Everyone knows cognitive ability is critical for understanding autism, however, how does it affect developmental trajectories of autism traits, and can it be accurately measured in those with severe intellectual disabilities? We discuss. Plus, more evidence that tylenol doees not cause autism.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41207796
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This week, a new study suggests a causal link not between Tylenol, but to COVID, which can cause a fever. There is clearly more research needed, but the findings are consistent with research on the link between maternal illness and autism. Also, it’s well known that genetics plays a role in how symptoms of autism emerge and present. Can genetics also explain why some people are diagnosed later? What about cannabis exposure during pregnancy? Is it a factor in a later diagnosis? For more information, listen to this week’s ASF podcast.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41016606
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As the autistic brain ages, is it more vulnerable to other brain disorders? Recent scientific discoveries in Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease show that there may be an underlying mechanism between these diseases and autism. However diagnosing someone with autism with an additional brain disorder, especially dementia, can be difficult. This week’s podcast covers the increased risk of Parkinson’s Disease in autism, as well as provides advice from a group of experts on how to diagnose an autistic person with dementia, since there may be overlap in features.
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This week’s podcast includes summaries from two new scientific studies (with comments from one of the studies’ authors @SimonsFoundation and @princetonPPH) about that tackle grouping and labeling the differences across the spectrum into meaningful subtypes. Both provide scientific evidence, including behavioral and biological data, that support the use of different labels. This is more evidence that lumping everyone into one unitary “autism” diagnosis is not meaningful or biologically accurate, and that using computer-driven approaches, different behavioral subtypes map onto behavioral features. This supports approaches that more clearly describe different types of autism for better supports.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40651720
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-025-02224-z
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451902224003793?via%3Dihub
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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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This week, special correspondent Mia Kotikovski discusses challenges in getting emergency care for those with autism, what doctors and hospitals can do to ease the stressors associated with places like the ER. This is a huge issue for families as many “simple” ER visits for their autistic family members can cause such stress it provokes severe reactions, especially in those with sensory issues, intellectual disability or those who cannot express their pain.
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During sleep, your brain is still active. It is turning all those things you learned during the day into long term memories through connections between the thalamus, hippocampus and frontal cortex. What happens in Profound Autism? How does the brain work during sleep and how will this knowledge lead to better sleep in people? Are there interventions already underway that are being tested that target sleep brainwaves? It can be hard to measure sleep, so in Part 2 of the Profound Autism Series, Dr. Dimitrios Mylonas from Harvard talks about his study to use portable home brain activity monitors that have been adapted for use in Profound Autism and an intervention based on this brain activity is being tested in other disorders. His study is now enrolling and is all remote, if you are interested in participating please email him at: DMYLONAS@mgh.harvard.edu
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Are you the parent of an infant? Are you wondering how you can get assessments on your child without having to struggle with your pediatrician’s time at a well- baby checkup? Are you interested in how your baby is thinking or communicating but your doctor says “it’s too early to tell?” A new study based out of Duke University is using remote computer based assessments to understand the very earliest markers of language and cognition to better predict later social development. The twist? It’s all done remotely. You can participate in research, get a gift card, and learn about your baby’s development all without leaving the house. This has been a struggle for many families and this may open the door for more video-based, but thorough, assessments.
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Those who are minimally verbal or non speaking represent about 25% of those with an autism diagnosis, yet there is really a lack of effective interventions for this group of autistic individuals. It used to be that everyone who was non-speaking was thought to have minimal ability to understand language, since understanding and speaking are so linked in development. However, group at Boston University studied the largest group of non-speaking autistic individuals so far and discovered that about 25% of them understand more language than they can speak, although this ability is still far lower than those who are neurotypical. The other 75% understand about as much as they can communicate verbally. This indicates that in some cases, the ability to understand words and their meaning exceeds the ability to communicate those ideas verbally. Surprise surprise, just like everything autism – there are differences across the spectrum. Thanks to Yanru Chen at Boston University for explaining the study to us.
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Just three days before 2024, ASF provides a summary of the the highlights of scientific discoveries and how they have translated into tools families can use. They include ways to speed up diagnosis and reduce waitlists, study of the brains in females and clinical recommendations for helping autistic females at birth, evidence of better practices around intervention and supports, and a review of the numbers of people who have a diagnosis. It isn’t comprehensive and if something was missed, our apologies, but the summary is 20 minutes.
You can read the text here: https://autismsciencefoundation.org/2023-year-end-review/