A tiny missing piece of the protein CPEB4, which moves around the cell and helps regulate gene expression, can impact neuronal activity and results in symptoms of autism spectrum disorder. This research, co-led by Raúl Méndez, PhD, and Xavier Salvatella, PhD, at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona,…

Risk of autism appears to be linked to the Y chromosome, a Geisinger study found, which may explain the  greater prevalence of Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in males. The researchers found no change in a ASD risk for participants with an additional X chromosome, but those with an additional Y…

Could one gene be responsible for autism, or at least play a major role in it? New lab research from the Rockefeller University and collaborators suggests this is a possibility. The researchers found that knocking out the gene ASTN2 leads to several hallmark behaviors of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in…

Artificial intelligence can reliably screen for autism using minimal medical and background information collected before the age of two years, research indicates. The machine learning model outlined by researchers in the journal JAMA Network Open could help overcome the bias and subjectivity that has overshadowed traditional screening tools. Researcher Kristiina…

Levels of a fatty acid in cord blood may help determine autism spectrum disorder (ASD) severity in childhood, according to work by a research team from University of Fukui, Japan. The researchers quantified polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) from cord blood and later used various tests to assess subsequent ASD symptoms…

The link between the gut microbiome and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is strongly supported and expanded on by a new metagenomics study, published in Nature Microbiology from a Chinese team. Their analysis includes not just bacteria native to the digestive tract, but also fungi, archaea, and viruses too. Their work…

A web-based therapy can benefit children with autism by plugging into their natural affinity for technology and robots. The Robot-Inspired Computer-Assisted Adaptive Autism Therapy (RoboCA3T) uses robot avatars and integrates them with computer-assisted therapies. It reinforces the role of technology in improving engagement and developing skills in children with autism spectrum…

A new artificial intelligence (AI) system can diagnose children between the ages of 24 and 48 months with autism at a 98.5% accuracy rate, according to research being presented next week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The system analyzes specialized brain MRIs and…

Three clinical studies in more than 1,500 children have shown that looking behavior can diagnose autism in children 16 to 30 months old. The studies, published simultaneously today in the Journal of the American Medical Association and JAMA Network Open by researchers at the Marcus Autism Center at Children’s Healthcare…

Specific gut microbes have been linked to autism-associated metabolic pathways, including gene expression profiles in the brain and diet. “We hadn’t seen this kind of clear overlap between gut microbial and human metabolic pathways in autism before,” says Jamie Morton, of the Simons Foundation, and one of the study’s 43…

A brain study conducted by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine has found that people with autism can be classified into four distinct subtypes based on their brain activity and behavior. The study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, linked patterns of brain connections with behavioral traits in people with autism…

Autism can be diagnosed from routine medical information collected within a month of birth, research in tens of thousands of children suggests. Nearly half the children subsequently diagnosed as autistic could be identified from information recorded in electronic health records (EHRs) within 30 days of birth, according to results published…

Seed-sized brain-like organoids that are reminiscent of one wrinkle in the human brain 15 to 19 weeks post-conception were created and grown in the lab by University of Utah (U of U). The organoids are being used to help scientists understand structural differences in the human brain that may contribute…

In a series of articles published in Nature Genetics, researchers used data from the SPARK (Simons Powering Autism Research) cohort, which includes nearly 43,000 people with autism, to find genetic influences among people all along the autism spectrum. The team found new “moderate risk genes”, and determined that some Autism Spectrum Disorder…

A Scandinavian study, led by the University of Bergen in Norway and including more than 4 million children, suggests that exposure to some anti-epileptic medications in the womb could increase children’s risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. The absolute risks for these conditions remained lower than five percent…