On this week’s podcast, diagnosis with the DSM 5. While much work needs to be done to include individual abilities and disabilities into the DSM5, after the CDC prevalence numbers were published last month, it became clear the old DSM IV was not working. In a replication of a previous finding, it showed that the DSM IV categories of Aspergers, PDDNOS and autistic disorder were just not being used consistently across states, and left the interpretation of those diagnoses somewhat meaningless. While DSM 5 is a step in the right direction, more work needs to be done to ensure everyone is receiving the most specific diagnosis possible, and getting the services they need. Listen to the podcast here.
Podcast: In partial phrase of the DSM-5
On this week’s podcast, Dr. Tracy Yuen of University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children explains two different analyses of cost-effectiveness which looked at 1) universal screening for ASD and 2) use of genomic sequencing to identify novel variants in people with ASD.
This week’s podcast is a short summary of just a few of the presentations. There was more of an emphasis on what has been called “real life” research questions like employment, quality of life, and relationships. As a result, some of the more basic science questions around autism are now being presented at other meetings. This is a shame. This podcast follows some of those basic science questions to the now translational opportunities that were presented at the meeting. It also highlights some newer findings that will provide help to people at all ages who need supports and services.
On this week’s podcast, three genetics papers featuring three ASF fellows! All three deal with using whole genome sequencing (WGS) to study non-coding regulatory regions that may be associated with autism. These regions of DNA do not code for proteins but regulate the regions that do. Mutations in the non-coding regulatory regions that regulate the genes associated with autism appear to be passed down from the father. However, the statistics around these findings need to be carefully considered because, for autism risk, the contribution of non-coding mutations seems to be more modest than that of coding mutations.
Read the work by…
Dr. William Brandler of UC San Diego, ASF Fellow ’15 here.
Dr. Joon Yong An of UCSF, ASF Fellow ’18 here.
Dr. Donna Werling of UCSF, ASF Fellow ’16 here.
This week’s podcast covers the recent article published in Molecular Autism that looks into the history of Hans Asperger, the eponym of Asperger’s Syndrome and a physician with ties to eugenics in Nazi-era Vienna.
This week’s podcast is a mini-recap of the 5th Annual Day of learning. Hear what the speakers distilled in their TED-style talks on topics covered sleep, diet, and medical marijuana as a potential treatment for autism. Plus hear about the most recent ASF grantees.
On this week’s podcast, studies tracking changes over time. The British Autism Study of Infant Siblings (BASIS) tracked changes in adaptive behaviors and cognitive skills in children at low-risk and high-risk of an ASD diagnosis, based on family history. The results point to the value in monitoring siblings of those with autism. Researchers at Kaiser Permanente tried to measure the prevalence of psychiatric and medical conditions in adolescents and young adults with ASD by studying its members in Northern California. Based on their results, the researchers call for all clinicians to approach ASD as a chronic health condition requiring regular follow-up and routine screening and treatment of medical and psychiatric issues.
On this week’s ASF podcast: By looking directly at the brains of people with autism, researchers at UC Davis MIND Institute, led by Dr. Thomas Avino and Dr. Cyndi Schumann, show a disruption of neuron number in the amygdala in autism. The amygdala is important because it is linked to emotion, fear and anxiety in people with autism. The shift in too many vs. too few neurons that occurs in adolescence may help explain anxiety in people with ASD. Read the full open-access article here.
On this week’s podcast, highlights of a new study led by Dr. Amy Kalkbrenner of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee published in Environmental Health Perspectives—certain air pollutants from cars and coal burning plants were associated with autism risk and severity. This scientific evidence supports policies which keep U.S. Environmental Protection Agency infrastructure intact to monitor air quality.
On this week’s ASF podcast, regression—what is it and who can see it? Using the right tools, both parents and clinicians can see that many more children with autism than thought show regression, a gradual decline or loss of skills starting at around 12 months of age and showing continual declines until 36 months of age. In 2016, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) committee concluded that regression is due to biological events that disrupt the formation of specific brain circuits at critical times in development.
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, 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.