Being in an unfamiliar environment prompts social avoidance and increases repetitive behaviors in mice with two mutated copies of the autism-linked gene SHANK3, according to a new study — but not if the environment contains familiar objects or if the animals are raised in an enriched environment. Ce…

Welcome to Spectrum Index, a monthly newsletter that distills data from noteworthy autism studies into a series of quick statistics. Let us know what you think at niko@spectrumnews.org, and thanks for reading. 8: The percentage of participants in SPARK — a large genetic study of people with autism —…

The Art of Autism is collecting favorite quotes about autism from some of our favorite bloggers. Please share your own in the comments below. “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” – Dr. Stephen Shore. “What would happen if the…

A new probe enables researchers to monitor interactions among select neurons across the brain, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The tool may be useful for studying brain circuits in animal models of autism. Traditional fMRI records blood flow changes as an indirect measure of neur…

A gene not previously linked to autism alters the expression of other genes associated with the condition, according to a new analysis of DNA in the placenta. A placenta’s genome comes from the fetus and has a unique pattern of methylation, the suite of chemical tags called methyl groups that attach…

Lisa Croen’s career took a sharp left turn toward autism research about 30 years ago, when she was working as an epidemiologist at the California Birth Defects Monitoring Program. Until then, she had largely studied the prevalence of physical birth defects, such as spina bifida and cleft palate. But…

Young adults with autism face many barriers to competitive employment, but for West Side Chicago public high school students who get jobs through Urban Autism Solutions, access to transportation isn’t one of them thanks to a generous gift from Lyft. “The goal of our LyftUp program is to inc…

Autism research tweets this week sounded multiple notes of caution — about mouse models, early interventions, genetic associations and leaky recruitment pipelines. First among the tempered tweets, the field needs to reconsider rodent models, according to a new review from Jill Silverman, associate p…

You might not know this but being autistic means we’re sensitive to lights and noise. Sensitive might be too light of a word. Try: they overwhelm us. By Said Shaiye Sorry brother, I can’t really stop and talk. I have somewhere to be. It was good to see you! I don’t feel good about lying inside the H…

The post Spotted around the web: Sleep disturbances, gender views, reading emotions appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

Inhibiting an overactive protein complex restores typical growth to human neurons that express low levels of the autism-linked gene ASH1L, according to a new study. Many people with mutations in ASH1L have autism, often with intellectual disability, seizures and a lack of brain growth after birth. B…

A deep-learning method can detect autism’s “fingerprints” on a brain scan and predict a person’s social-communication difficulties, according to a new study. The tool can also spot brain features that distinguish the brains of autistic men from those of autistic women, according to another study fro…

By: Randy Horowitz, M.S. Ed., S.A.S. and Joanne Capuano Sgambati, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA Sexuality is part of normal human development for every man, woman and child. It is a basic need and an integral part of life. Sexuality is not just physical maturity and sexual intercourse; it is diverse an…

Much of modern biology is built on addition and subtraction. To interrogate a gene’s function, subtract it from the genome and watch what happens (often, death). To confirm a gene’s role in some disease, replace a defective copy with an unmutated version and see if the addition renders a fix. Such s…