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Can animals be autistic?

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The answer is obviously “no”, however, animal models are necessary to help understand brain circuitry and improve interventions and supports for not just core symptoms but associated issues like anxiety, OCD, seizures and GI issues. Scientists view behaviors consistent with an ASD diagnosis differently, and this has created some problems in interpretation of animal model data. This week’s #ASFpodcast will break down a recent paper in Genes, Brain and Behavior which addresses inconsistencies in the literature and makes recommendations on how researchers should shift how they think about how they can replicate features of ASD in a model system.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35285132/

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Loss of skills in autism partially explained

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Is regression a sudden loss of previously acquired skills or is it the gradual decline in a particular area of function?  Using the right tools, both parents and clinicians can document the gaining and loss of skills in different areas, and they agree on what they see.  However, rather than being a single event, regression is slow, starting at around 12 months and showing continual declines through diagnosis.  Thanks to an NIMH day long symposium on the biological causes of regression, scientists got together to discuss this loss of skills on a biological level.  They think that the decline or loss of skills is due to biological events that disrupt the formation of specific brain circuits at critical times in development.  This can be because neurons stop developing, or maybe the brain goes overboard in shaping and pruning back connections.  If you want to see the amazing full day of presentations that aired in 2016, click here:  https://videocast.nih.gov/Summary.asp?file=19500&bhcp=1.  A link to the Ozonoff study described in the podcast is here:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29524310

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What is the can do vs. the will do of autism?

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Often overlooked in intervention studies, it is becoming increasingly clearer that adaptive behavior, the “will do” vs. the “can do” of functioning, should receive more focus.  In people with autism and high IQ, cognitive ability, the “can do” is higher than adaptive behavior, the “will do”.  Why?  The key in new research from the National Institutes of Health may be social abilities.  Another study this week from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in adult  with high IQ demonstrates that social motivation may be the key to improving social skills and socialization in people with ASD.