The latest autism research news stories with ASF Chief Science Officer Alycia Halladay
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This week, a special surprise: a conversation with Dr. Thomas Frazier, Chief Science Officer of Autism Speaks, on what is needed for better clinical trials for drug treatments for ASD, and what they are going to be doing to help move the science along. Of course, the conversation hit on other topics, like disclosure of a diagnosis, sex differences, and some of the newest more exciting findings in autism research.
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This week, a disturbing report from Molecular Autism published by an Austrian historian with no affiliation with autism, linked Hans Asperger to a eugenics facility in Germany and labeled him a Nazi sympathizer. This was the first investigative report of the link using primary documents. He had previously been considered a hero from trying to save his patients from the gestapo, and plead for them to be rehabilitated. So which is true? Hero or potential war criminal? Maybe both. This podcast goes through the 43 page article with the message that: if you have Aspergers, you are not necessarily a Nazi. Don’t let anyone tell you that, and if they do, email me at ahalladay@autismsciencefoundation.org
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Did you miss the ASF Day of Learning in NYC but want to hear some teasers before they are available online? Listen to this week’s podcast, and you’ll hear the 12 minute talks distilled to 2 minutes, leaving out a lot of details and eliminating the video part but giving you a quick recap of each. Topics this year included: 1) What have we learned this last year? 2) Are Boys and Girls with Autism Different? 3) Does diet make a difference in autism? 4) Is medical marijuana a treatment option? 5) Why won’t my child sleep and 6) How can we improve adult outcomes in people with autism? ASF also announced 8 new pre and post-doctoral fellowships on Wednesday, filling out an already amazingly active autism awareness month. Stay tuned for the complete presentations to appear on the ASF homepage.
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Rarely can individuals with autism be studied more than once – but a new study tracks how cognitive and adaptive behavior changes over time. What researchers in the British Autism of Infant Siblings, or BASIS found, was that family history of autism meant as much to cognitive and adaptive behavior than an actual autism diagnosis. This calls for close monitoring of siblings of those with autism, regardless of whether or not they had a diagnosis. Also, investigating psychiatric issues in children may underestimate their prevalence because many psychiatric issues do not emerge until the teenage years, so Kaiser Permanente looked at medical and health records of those with autism at 14-25 years to see what other issues they were facing, and the findings are both sobering yet maybe a little comforting.
Please watch the UN WAAD event here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tyhm7p8Gr2A&t=7943s
The two studies mentioned in the podcast are:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29616486
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29610415
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Using resources from the Autism BrainNet, researchers from UC Davis show specific brain changes in an area called the amygdala in autism. The amygdala is associated with fear, emotion and anxiety in people with autism. But because they can look at the brain directly, the actual number of neurons in the amygdala can be counted not just in one individual, but in over 50 individuals across ages 2 to 50. This remarkable study showed that too much activity in the amygdala early may lead to impaired function later on. This could be caused by too many neurons which are present early on in life in people with ASD, and reflected by fewer neurons later on in life. These difference can only be detected through looking directly at brain tissue. To learn more, register for the Autism BrainNet at www.takesbrains.org/signup.
Here is a link to the paper: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/03/19/1801912115.long
Dr. Avino will be answering questions about this paper on a Q&A on April 9, 2018 – please register here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7051754498195523073