This week’s post comes to us from Stephanny Freeman, PhD and Kristen Hayashida, MEd, BCBA, our partners on the Play Idea Cards app. Play Idea Cards is a full curriculum on teaching play – right in the palm of your hand! Check it out on the Apple App Store!  Everyone just loves the holidays! Lo…

This month’s newsletter highlights findings on the use of three medication types during pregnancy. The post Null and Noteworthy: Reinforcing rigor; medication medley appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

Such high expression levels may account for the condition’s sex bias, a new preprint suggests — but not everyone agrees with that logic. The post Highly expressed genes may buffer against autism-linked mutations in girls appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum…

Having an infection during pregnancy may be tied to a small increase in the chances of having an autistic child, but the connection may not be causal. The post The link between maternal infection and autism, explained appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

By Ron Sandison December 7th, my wife Kristen and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. One of the challenges I experienced with autism was relationships. While dating, I had difficulty filtering my comments and unusual behavior: a lack of eye contact, monotone speech, and I often nervously tap…

A massive update to the MSSNG dataset gives qualified researchers ready access to explore autism’s genetic architecture on a cloud-based platform. The post Whole-genome trove ties new genes, variants to autism appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

This week, Twitter provided a discussion about autism biomarkers, a survey revealing language preferences, and a peek inside the octopus brain. The post Community Newsletter: Autism biomarkers; language preferences; octopus brain atlas appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spect…

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 5 December. The post Spotted around the web: Cannabinoid gel; fragile X syndrome subtypes; neurodivergent scientists appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

The approach could help test hypotheses about how atypical function of the brain’s immune cells contributes to autism. The post Mapping tool reveals microglia’s shape-shifting secrets appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

The in-depth approach shows mutations in the autism-linked gene disrupt neuronal growth and communication, as well as mitochondrial gene expression. The post Multi-omics study captures CNTNAP2’s far-ranging effects appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

Early-career researchers talk about the challenges around taking time off, and a new study shows that young scientists tend to be more innovative than their older colleagues. The post <em>Spectrum</em> Launch: Carving out vacation time as an early-career researcher appeared first on Spec…

A new method that merges tissue expansion, light-sheet microscopy and automated image segmentation can reconstruct neural circuits in about a week. The post Microscopy mash-up quantifies, maps neural circuits appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

High rates of autism are linked to lower socioeconomic status and minority ethnic groups, according to the largest-ever autism incidence study. The post Autism incidence in England varies by ethnicity, class, location appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

By Nils Skudra As a fan of the Harry Potter franchise, I always enjoy watching scenes from the films or reading excerpts from the books. One character I am especially intrigued by is Hermione Granger, Harry’s academically gifted and fiery best friend whose intellectual skills prove vital in the succ…