A new study by the CDC, including Dr. Matthew Maenner, ASF Grantee ’10, found that 95% of children with autism have at least one psychiatric or medical comorbidity, which may have a role in age of first evaluation—the more comorbid conditions, the earlier the first evaluation for ASD. Read the study here.
CDC Study Finds 95% of Children with Autism Have One Comorbidity
On this week’s podcast, Dr. Alycia Halladay overviews three recent studies, including one done in collaboration with the Autism Treatment Network, looking at how sleep problems impact the behavior and functioning of individuals with autism across the spectrum.
SETD5 is a master regulator of gene activity that controls the activity of potentially thousands of other downstream genes in the same cell. Researchers, supported in part by ASF, found that this gene is associated with a subtype of autism that is seen mostly in males and includes intellectual disability and facial dysmorphology. This is further support of different genes and gene combinations contributing to different features of autism, rather than the entire spectrum. The UC San Diego investigators, including Dr. Isabella Rodrigues Fernandes, ASF Grantee ’17, in this study will continue to investigate this gene and how it affects brain development, which may lead to therapeutic interventions for those who carry this mutation. Read the study here.
On this week’s podcast, Dr. Alycia Halladay overviews three new studies looking at commonly used drugs that may help autism not just by improving behavior, but also by how they impact the brain. Plus, a fun study about social media.
On this week’s podcast, Dr. Alycia Halladay focuses in on the Extreme Male Brain Theory of Autism. Amazingly, fetal testosterone levels are reflected in the length of the 2nd and 4th fingers and can be measured as a reflection of testosterone levels during pregnancy. But what may be true for one sex, may not be true for the other.
On this week’s podcast, a study led by Elizabeth Berg in the lab of Dr. Jill Silverman at UC Davis published in the journal Autism Research demonstrated SHANK3’s role in core social communication deficits in a rat model of autism. Rats exhibit both receptive and expressive communication. SHANK3 mutations are seen in those with Phelan-McDermid Syndrome as well as in 1% of people with autism. This new study opens up new ways to understand autism symptoms in an animal model, and moves autism research using animals forward significantly.
On this week’s podcast, Dr. Katherine Stavropoulos (ASF Grantee ’14) highlights her research with her UC Riverside colleague Dr. Leslie Carver on brain patterns that may explain the social communication deficits present in ASD. Plus, recent research from the Study to Explore Early Development led by Dr. Eric Rubenstein of UNC presented findings that demonstrated increased odds of autism symptoms for children of at least one parent with broader autism phenotype.
On this week’s podcast, Dr. Lori Sacrey of the University of Alberta highlights findings from a multi-site study she led that investigated how well parent report measures could predict an ASD diagnosis for at-risk infants. Plus, the journal Autism decided to move away from the puzzle piece symbol in this new era of autism research.
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. On this week’s podcast, learn about adaptive behavior and hear about highlights of studies from the National Institutes of Health and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
On this week’s podcast, the needs of #autism support staff are discussed. These important members of the community suffer burnout which can impact the quality of the services they provide individuals with ASD. A new study examines how to improve the psychological well being of autism support staff so interventions and prevention of burnout can be developed. In addition, intolerance to uncertainty is highly associated with autism, but in a new study by the Kennedy Krieger Institute, there is now a direct link between this trait and ASD.
This week’s ASF podcast takes a look at the prevalence rate of autism diagnoses. Two national datasets have shown no further increase in autism prevalence in the last few years of looking. Also, folic acid proves to show an effect on the probability of not just an autism diagnosis but also autism symptoms, especially important for women taking anti epileptic medications for seizures and bipolar depression. Listen to the podcast here.
This week’s ASF podcast goes into some waves—gamma waves, which seem to help coordinate activity in different parts of the brain. Researchers at Oxford University led by Dr. David Menassa explore gamma waves in the brains of autistic adults who perform better on a visual processing task than those without a diagnosis. Dr. Menassa provides his own interpretation of the data on this week’s podcast, which you can read more on and listen to here.