Skip to main content

Spectrum: Autism Research News

Tag: audio research news

January 2023
Two adult prairie voles snuggle.

‘Mind-blowing’ study upends conventional wisdom on oxytocin

by  /  27 January 2023

CRISPR-edited prairie voles that lack receptors for the so-called “social hormone” still bond with their mate and pups, raising questions about the molecule’s role.

Comments
A multiracial group of schoolchildren sit at their desks in class.

Racial, economic disparities skew New Jersey data on autism, intellectual disability

by  /  26 January 2023

Serious differences in autism identification persist, according to an analysis of autistic children in New Jersey over 16 years.

Comments
Three groups of people meet and mix at a crossroads.

Autism research at the crossroads

by  /  25 January 2023

The power struggle between researchers, autistic self-advocates and parents is threatening progress across the field.

Comments
Illustration of a signature being signed on a form.

Decisional capacity and informed consent, explained

by  /  23 January 2023

To include more autistic people in research, here’s what scientists need to know about informed consent procedures for study participants who have impaired decision-making capacity.

Comments
An illustration of a questionnaire that is slightly visually distorted

Tempering tales of a new autism measure: A conversation with Thomas Frazier

by  /  20 January 2023

The questionnaire, designed to screen children for autism, isn’t ready for clinical use without further validation, contrary to what some overblown newspaper headlines reported.

Comments
Cultured kidney cell with spike-like structures protruding from it.

Mutations in autism-linked gene cause membrane mischief

by  /  19 January 2023

Inactivating TAOK1 prompts tentacle-like protrusions to form all over a neuron’s surface, revealing the gene’s role in molding the membrane.

Comments
Illustration of hybrid objects: part light bulb, part lab vial, some in blue and some in red to signify null and replicated results.

Null & Noteworthy: Intervention flops; neural noise; gender care

by  /  18 January 2023

This edition takes aim at the autism-intervention evidence base with a slew of null results, plus findings that challenge a prevailing autism brain theory.

Comments
Graham Diering smiles in a portrait in his yard.

Asleep in the Mouse House with Graham Diering

by  /  12 January 2023

Memories from Diering’s life trace the rising star’s scientific path from raising lizards as a child and later exploring home brewing to heading a lab that investigates memory, sleep disturbances and early development in animals with autism-linked mutations.

Comments
A hand holds a compass against a blue background.

Spectrum Launch: What makes a good graduate school interview?

by  /  11 January 2023

‘Tis the season for grad school meet and greets. But what are interviewers looking for, and how can early-career researchers bring their best?

Comments
Several people stand around a comments box that is dispensing speech bubbles in a futuristic digital landscape.

‘Science working as it should’: Autism blood signature study earns open post-publication review

by  /  10 January 2023

Shortly after the study’s publication, experts critiqued it on PubPeer and other online platforms.

Comments