The latest autism research news stories with ASF Chief Science Officer Alycia Halladay
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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.
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A study conducted by researchers at Yale this week revealed that while people with autism have disabilities in reading individual emotions, they have an unexpected amazing ability to understand and apply social rules to groups of people. They understand social phenomena much better than those without. So how can this be? Also, a new groundbreaking study shows scientists that there are changes in brain activity that are observed way before a diagnosis, which can change early detection and early intervention of ASD.
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Some autistics are offended by the word “protection” when it comes to autism, but in addition to things increasing the probability of a diagnosis, some things reduce the probability? This week’s podcast explores the female protective effect as well as a new study from the BASIS study in the UK looking at early regulatory function as a protective factor in ASD and ADHD traits.
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Biomarkers can help distinguish different types of features but this week they were used to predict who would respond to Pivotal Response Training, or PRT. Researchers, led by Pam Ventral at Yale looked at how the brain responded to a social or non social situation as well as baseline features on standardized measures. Remarkably, these brain signatures were better at standard behavioral assessments at determining who would respond most positively to PRT. This study has enormous implications for personalized medicine approach and demonstrates how early studies in biomarkers many years ago have paid off for those with autism.