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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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Catching up with CANDID

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In part 2 of the GI series in ASD, a new paper in the Journal of Nutrition and Gastroenterology describing the www.candidgi.com meeting is described. While sometimes doctors may be know-it-alls, sometimes they do not know-it-all and need experts to advise them, especially when they encounter individuals who may be hard to diagnose and treat. Those with intellectual disability and who are non-speaking may pose specific challenges in diagnosing medical issues, including GI problems. This podcast describes the symptoms that may be obvious, some that are not so obvious, and what GI doctors need to do to help these families.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37323113

www.candidgi.com

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Autism Self-Diagnosis Tools

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Autistic individuals are turning to self-diagnosis to explain their autism features, sometimes based on better awareness, sometimes based on what they see on social media. But how accurate are these autism diagnostic tools? They range anywhere from tik-tok videos all the way to a tool called the RAADS-R which has been described as a valid diagnostic measure. Unfortunately, as discussed by scientist Alexandra Sturm who looked closely at what this tool measures, it’s probably not a true diagnostic measure. However, diagnosis for adults is hard to obtain, Dr. Sturm provides suggestions on what to do if you are curious about an autism diagnosis and don’t know where to turn.

The RAADS can be found here: https://embrace-autism.com/raads-r/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09515089.2024.2327823

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38305196/

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What is the IACC and what do they do?

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On this week’s podcast we interview Dr. Susan Daniels who is the National Autism Coordinator for the Department of Health and Human Services. This position is created by the Autism CARES Act (which is under reauthorization) and represents one of the only disorders that provides coordinating functioning across funding agencies. We talk about what her office does, what the IACC is responsible for, and what the strategic plan for autism from the IACC advises congress to do. She also discusses some upcoming events for Autism Awareness Month.

Links referenced in our conversation are below:

https://iacc.hhs.gov

https://iacc.hhs.gov/publications/strategic-plan/2023/

https://iacc.hhs.gov/funding/data/

https://p2a.co/tCy86Lk

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Top reasons to study the autistic brain

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There are dozens of good reasons why scientists need to study the brains of people with autism. One is to understand what happens in the brain as people with autism get older and see how the brain changes over time. Another is to identify mechanisms of autism to help all neuroscientists figure out how the brain works. A third is improve medicine by determining what helps what people at what age. Scientists @UCDavis, @Penn and @UCLA examined the individual brain cells of people with autism to address these three questions, revealing that the autistic brain shows some similarities to brains of people with Alzheimer’s Disease. In addition, inflammation seen in the brain may be caused by too much activity of cells talking to each other. Studying the brains of people with autism is essential to better understanding and is made possible by families who are committed to research. www.autismbrainnet.org.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36862688/

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“Emergent and Transactional” with Dr. Andrew Whitehouse

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This week’s ASF podcast returns with a special guest: Dr. Andrew Whitehouse from the University of Western Australia talks about a new unifying theory of the spectrum of autism symptoms and features. It’s called “emergent and transactional”, and while the original author was Dr. Jonathan Green from the UK, Dr. Whitehouse wrote a clear explanation of what it means. He also provides his perspective on the broad spectrum of experiences, feelings and priorities in the autism community and how this new theory might bring together at least some of the views. We also discuss how courage and humility are needed by the entire community to reduce the vitriol.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37434277/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37438108/

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Can you say strengths and deficits at the same time?

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People tend to go towards a “strengths only” or “weaknesses only” approach to describing autism. But even if you think about a single aspect of autistic challenges – social communication – autistics can show both. How can you measure this, and even more importantly, document it to play to someones strengths while addressing their impairments at the same time? Special guests Dr. Matthew Lerner and Jacquelyn Gates from Stony Brook University explain how this can be done by clinicians.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36573397/