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Spectrum: Autism Research News

Tag: intellectual disability

January 2023
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.

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Lab images of cilia.

Autism and the cell’s antennae

by  /  4 January 2023

Many autism-linked genes are somehow tied to cilia, the tiny hair-like sensors that stud a cell’s surface. But the question remains whether, and how, cilia differences contribute to the condition.

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September 2022
Illustration of a binocular microscope with an X Chromosome in one eyepiece and cancer cells in the other.

The cloudy connection between fragile X and cancer

by  /  28 September 2022

People with the autism-linked syndrome lack a protein implicated in several cancers, but it’s unclear whether — or how — they are protected from malignancies.

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August 2022
Illustration of hybrid objects: part light bulb, part lab vial, some in blue and some in red to signify null and replicated results.

Null and Noteworthy: Mind reading, specialist shortage, sleep problems source

by  /  23 August 2022

This month, a commonly used emotion-recognition test doesn’t perform as expected — nor does a survey of past efforts to train autism specialists or a hunt for the sources of the sleep problems that often accompany the condition.

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Illustration of a woman speaking. What she is saying is represented by shapes in a speech bubble, which appears over a sheet of writing.

Novel protocol captures autism voices across the spectrum

by  /  17 August 2022

Interview techniques that cater to a range of communication abilities can elicit the perspectives of autistic youth with cognitive and verbal challenges.

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July 2022
An abstract "funding mechanism" featuring dollar bills alongside tubes, beakers and wires

New program offers $35K grants to study ‘profound autism’

by  /  18 July 2022

People who have ‘profound autism’ — those with severe intellectual disability, limited communication abilities or both — tend to be excluded from research. The Autism Science Foundation seeks to change that.

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The most personalized medicine: Studying your own child’s rare condition

by  /  7 July 2022

A handful of scientists are committed to advancing research on the autism-related genetic conditions their own children have.

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June 2022
Illustration of two figures in a field of black circles representing genetic risks. The circles surround the figure on the left and stay farther away from the figure on the right.

Common inherited variants tied to autism show sex bias in families

by  /  23 June 2022

Siblings of autistic females are more likely to have autism than siblings of autistic males are, and mothers of autistic children carry more common, autism-linked variants than fathers do.

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February 2022

Top autism candidate gene tied to newly identified syndrome

by  /  17 February 2022

Mutations in the autism-linked gene PAX5 underlie a range of traits, including developmental delay, intellectual disability, seizures and autism.

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January 2022
Overhead view of crowd of people walking in Copenhagen city square.

Population study downgrades some copy number variants’ impact on autism

by  /  28 January 2022

Some copy number variants may boost a person’s chances of having autism, but to a lesser extent than previously thought.

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