The Mitochondria in a Minute

The word “mitochondrial deficits” gets thrown around a lot as a cause of autism, but what does this really mean? This week we interview Dr. Carisa Sirois from the University of Wisconsin, who recently published a review of how the mitochondria are involved in neurodevelopmental disorders. The ways mitochondria are involved in ASD are not simple, there are many different ways in which they affect cellular function, including genetic variations leading to impaired functioning, which then leads to brain level changes. We also discuss how the mitochondria are involved in a process called oxidative stress, which has been informally proposed to be a core process in autism.

Download the publication here:

The Importance of Model Systems

Animal models of autism, including cell based models, have received criticism because autism is a uniquely human condition so there is no value in studying it in a model like a mouse or a cell. On the other hand, model systems have been used for decades to develop therapies for a myraid of other conditions and disorders, and produced evidence-based treatments for not just autism but conditions from ADHD to schizophrenia. So why is there so much backlash about this line of research? The ASF podcast talks to Jill Silverman at UC Davis to get some perspective.

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

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/377739/autism-research-mice-lab-models