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Spectrum: Autism Research News

News Archive

April 2023
Speech bubble formed by a network of communication

Community Newsletter: Polyneuro risk score; rat brain imaging protocol

by  /  2 April 2023

A pair of neuroimaging-related studies — one about a framework for brain-wide association studies and another about a standardized tool to image rat brains — held researchers’ attention on social media this week.

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March 2023
Research illustration of three brain diagrams.

Brain connectivity, behavior flag four autism subtypes

by  /  31 March 2023

A machine-learning technique applied to brain imaging data appears to predict a person’s mix of verbal intelligence, social affect and repetitive behaviors.

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A hand reaches from above to add a pill to a stack that is resting against the x-axis of a graph.

Going on Trial: Trofinetide approval for Rett; n-of-1 ASO therapies; cord-blood deals

by  /  30 March 2023

This month’s issue of the Going on Trial newsletter examines personalized therapies for rare conditions, Acadia’s new drug for Rett syndrome and developments in a cord-blood program, among other autism-related drug trial news.

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A toy or abacus with emoji-styled yellow faces instead of beads. The faces show different expressions, with many happy faces that are on the outside of the main framework.

‘Flourishing’ measure may not hold up for autistic children

by  /  29 March 2023

Evidence of measurement bias undermines past claims about autistic children’s lower well-being.

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Research image of the posterior insular cortex.

Maternal immune response dulls male rats’ social radar

by  /  27 March 2023

Male rats prenatally exposed to a maternal immune response have atypical responses to other rats in distress, according to a new study.

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Many mouths making conversation, with speech bubbles in red and blue.

Community Newsletter: Suicide in autism; neural cell isolation; analysis of autism genes

by  /  26 March 2023

Discussion on social media revolved around a meta-analysis of suicidality in autism, a method to purify neural stem and progenitor cells, and autism-linked genes in zebrafish.

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Research diagram of brains viewed from overhead and in profile.

Brain signatures of rare variants hint at cardiovascular risk

by  /  24 March 2023

People whose brains look like those of people who carry autism-linked copy number variants also share markers of heart health.

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Overhead picture of a racially diverse group of children playing while lying on a blue carpet.

U.S. autism prevalence continues to rise as race and sex gaps shrink, new stats show

by  /  23 March 2023

About 1 in 36 children in the United States has autism, up almost 20 percent from the previous estimate, reflecting improved identification, particularly among girls and Black, Hispanic and Asian or Pacific Islander children.

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Research image of cultured neurons.

Cannabis compound rebalances signaling to quell seizures in mice

by  /  22 March 2023

Cannabidiol (CBD) blocks the action of a molecule that drives an overexcitability feedback loop in a rodent model of epilepsy.

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Adapted research image of immunofluorescence staining of primary cortical neurons showing expression of PTBP proteins and reduced level of the protein SYNGAP1.

‘Splice-switching’ strategy boosts SYNGAP1 expression

by  /  21 March 2023

The approach improves the function of SYNGAP1-deficient neurons in vitro, but whether it will work in people remains unclear.

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