Opinion / Q&A
Fragile X researcher takes on COVID-19
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Cara Westmark has spent the past year building the case that a drug designed for fragile X syndrome might help coronavirus patients, too.
TOPIC
Treatments
Efforts to ease the symptoms of autism are beginning to ramp up, with promising candidates in various stages of testing.
News
Many U.S. counties lack autism therapists
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Applied behavior analysis is the most widely used therapy for autistic children in the United States, but some regions lack the staff needed to provide it.
News
Early training forestalls motor, memory difficulties in mouse model of Rett syndrome
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Motor and memory training early in life postpones the onset of difficulties in those areas in a mouse model of Rett syndrome, and stimulating neurons involved in those skills appears to mimic the effects of training.
Opinion / Viewpoint
How to improve oxytocin research for autism
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To guard against hype, scientists studying oxytocin’s role in autism and its potential as a treatment need to embrace robust theories, rigorous delivery methods and reproducible research practices.
March 2021
February 2021
News
Advancing early interventions for autism
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Some therapies use play and other activities to reinforce skills that autistic children often find challenging. Trials show these methods can change a child’s trajectory for the better, but the evidence base remains thin.
0 Comments
January 2021
News
Spectrum reporting prompts new review of common drug
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Aripiprazole, an antipsychotic medication marketed as Abilify, eases aggressive behavior in autistic children, but questions remain about its side effects.
0 Comments
News / Toolbox
Method may improve safety of gene therapies targeting the brain
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A new approach for delivering gene therapy to the brain reduces nerve damage in primates and could help make gene therapies for conditions related to autism safer.
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News
New gene therapy methods deliver promise
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Two unpublished studies detail improved techniques for delivering gene therapies to the brain.
0 Comments
News
Mouse study sounds note of caution for Rett syndrome therapies
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Treatments for Rett syndrome that aim to boost levels of the protein MECP2 may not help everyone with the condition.
0 Comments
News
Mice show brain, behavior changes weeks after oxytocin treatment
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Intranasal oxytocin may spur new neuron growth and changes in social behavior after a few weeks.
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December 2020
Features / Special Reports / Hindsight is 2020: The year in review
Rewind: Spectrum’s best from 2020
Our staff picks the stories, podcasts and special reports that stood out from the rest this past year.
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Features / Special Reports / Hindsight is 2020: The year in review
Hot topics in autism research, 2020
The Spectrum team highlights five topics that distinguished autism research in 2020: diversity in data, gene therapies, subtyping, social circuitry and the ‘autism gene’ debate.
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Features / Special Reports / Hindsight is 2020: The year in review
Notable papers in autism research, 2020
Gene therapies and the factors influencing autism traits top Spectrum’s list of the 10 most notable research findings we covered in 2020.