Regions of the brain’s fear center expand in autistic children and teenagers with anxiety, but not in their autistic or non-autistic peers without anxiety. The post Anxiety drives amygdala differences in autistic youth appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

By Kaelynn Partlow I am 24 years old and I am diagnosed with “high-functioning autism.” There is a broad misconception in the autism community that so-called “high-functioning autism” means “easy autism.” And while it’s largely true that those of us labeled “high-functioning” tend to hav…

A theoretical neuroscientist, Kennedy uses a blend of computational modeling and real-world experiments to understand how brain activity shapes the behaviors of animals that model autism and other conditions. The post Rising star: Ann Kennedy bridges gap between biology, computational theory appeare…

The method, called Orgo-Seq, reveals that a deletion of genes on chromosome 16 increases the proportion of immature neurons and neural precursors in brain organoids derived from people with the mutation. The post Sequencing trick identifies brain cells affected by large autism-linked mutation appear…

Recently, the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) unveiled the “travel Confidently MSP Education Center” at the Minneapolis/ St. Paul airport that has a mock airplane cabin to help build confidence in travelers through pre-flight experiences. One of the notable features of this center is the Navi…

Heating up Twitter feeds this week was a new commentary about a rarely discussed perspective on autism, talk about the use of optogenetics tools to manipulate ‘presynapses,’ a possible explanation for decision-making differences between the sexes, and a striking illustration of the human…

My Friend Theo By Scott Lentine He jumps for joy when you open the door Very happy and delighted to see you Doing a happy dance on the floor And enjoying getting hugs too   He loves looking out the windows Hoping to see other dogs and humans as well He gets a thrill out of playing various games…

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 18 July. The post Spotted around the web: Histone modifications, neurodegenerative processes, Black in Neuro Week appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

About 15 percent of genes currently included in clinical genetic tests for autism or intellectual disability don’t have enough evidence to support their ties to the conditions, the panel found. The post How an expert panel evaluates genes for autism genetic tests appeared first on Spectrum | Autis…

An overabundance of ribosomes drives an imbalance of proteins produced from long and short genetic transcripts in a mouse model of fragile X syndrome. The post Plethora of protein-making machines in neurons may underlie fragile X appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum Ne…

This month, we pore over null results from a study of the accuracy of emotion recognition skills in autistic people, clinical trials of a vasopressin drug called balovaptan, and an analysis of ‘systemizing’ abilities in autistic children. The post Null and Noteworthy: Metacognition, balo…

By Ashleigh Evans, MS, BCBA With the start of Summer comes endless possibilities of fun in the sun, from beach days to festivals and fireworks. But for many children with sensory challenges, some of these activities can be overstimulating. Instead, there are many fun and individualizable acti…

Deletion of the 22q11.2 chromosomal region alters the expression of numerous autism- and schizophrenia-linked genes, most of which are not contained within the deleted region, a new study suggests. The post Deletions on chromosome 22 have ripple effects across genome appeared first on Spectrum | Aut…

The expression levels of certain genes that track with brain activity are different in autistic people than in their non-autistic peers. The post Genetic underpinnings of brain activity may differ in autism appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News