Skip to main content

Spectrum: Autism Research News

Author

Laura Dattaro

Former Senior News Writer

Laura Dattaro was a senior reporter at Spectrum from 2020 to 2023, where she covered genetics, mental health, public policy and other areas of autism research. She proposed and wrote the Null and Noteworthy newsletter, a monthly recap of studies with null results and replications. Dattaro has worked as a science journalist and editor for more than 10 years and has written for the Columbia Journalism Review, Popular Mechanics, Slate and The New York Times, among other publications. Before joining Spectrum, she also worked as associate producer for the World Science Festival. Dattaro has an M.A. in science and health journalism from Columbia University and a B.A. in English and music from the University of Delaware. You can find her on Twitter at @LauraLauraDat.

September 2021
Week of SeptemberSep
13th
2021
News / Spotted

Spotted around the web: Shifting sex ratio, autism drugs, neuroscience research inequality

by , ,  /  17 September 2021

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 13 September.

Comments
Week of SeptemberSep
6th
2021
News / Spotted

Spotted around the web: PTEN organoids, virtual reality, decolonizing science

by , , ,  /  10 September 2021

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 6 September.

Comments
Colorful illustration shows a esearcher with frogs and frog eggs.
Features

Autism research makes the leap to frogs

by  /  8 September 2021

Frogs are useful for autism research for a slew of reasons, including the fact that the animals’ initial development occurs outside of the mother’s body in plain view.

Comments
neurons in organoids
News

Protein inhibitor normalizes neuronal migration in organoid model of autism

by  /  1 September 2021

Inhibiting a protein that helps cells move or change shape prevents atypical neuronal migration in 3D clusters of brain cells carrying autism-linked genetic variants.

Comments
August 2021
Week of AugustAug
23rd
2021
News / Spotted

Spotted around the web: Mislabeled ‘autism traits,’ cerebellum in autism, medicinal cannabis

by , , ,  /  27 August 2021

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 23 August.

Comments
Close-up profile of child with focus on eye.
News

Visual response shows promise as biomarker in autism-linked condition

by  /  23 August 2021

Brain responses to visual stimuli are smaller and weaker in children with Phelan-McDermid syndrome, an autism-linked genetic condition, than in non-autistic children.

Comments
Week of AugustAug
16th
2021
News / Spotted

Spotted around the web: Dementia risk, sleep anxiety, novel variant of NBEA

by ,  /  20 August 2021

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 16 August.

Comments
Holly Stessman standing in her garden looking up and holding her two chickens.
Opinion / Beyond the bench

Beyond the bench: A conversation with Holly Stessman

by  /  13 August 2021

When Holly Stessman isn’t probing autism genes, she is tending to her flock of chickens or seeking out the next great sci-fi movie.

Comments
July 2021
Week of JulyJul
26th
2021
News / Spotted

Spotted around the web: Neuronal differentiation, vitamin D, Hollywood representation

by , , , ,  /  30 July 2021

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 26 July.

Comments
Colorful, playful illustrated scene of ewborns on a conveyor belt moving past researchers holding a long, long list.
News

The push to screen newborns for rare autism-linked genetic conditions

by  /  28 July 2021

As treatments for some autism-linked genetic conditions inch closer to the clinic, researchers are talking more urgently about screening all newborns for such conditions.

Comments