In early March, my colleagues and I heard that our research institute, in Klosterneuburg, Austria, would soon shut down to help slow the spread of coronavirus. We immediately suppressed the impulse to panic and accepted the imminent closure as an appropriate public-health decision in light of the pa…

‘Autistic burnout’ is the intense physical, mental or emotional exhaustion, often accompanied by a loss of skills, that some adults with autism experience. Many autistic people say it results mainly from the cumulative effect of having to navigate a world that is designed for neurotypical people. Bu…

The post Webinar: Somer Bishop, Gaia Novarino and Huda Zoghbi on COVID-19 and autism research appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

Mice missing an autism gene called SHANK3 respond to much lighter touches than typical mice do, according to a new study1. And this hypersensitivity seems to result from the underactivity of neurons that normally dampen sensory responses. The study is the first to examine sensory sensitivity in mice…

As the coronavirus pandemic disrupts the work of researchers around the world, academic journals are adjusting their expectations for what and how they publish. Some editors expect an initial ‘boom’ in papers as scientists newly blocked from entering their labs find themselves with more time to writ…

Autism prevalence in the United States continues to rise, according to a new study of 8-year-old children in 11 states1. Boys are 4.3 times as likely as girls are to have autism, a ratio that is consistent with previous estimates. The report, released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Pre…

The post Implant scans brain activity in mice as they move freely appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

From identifying a new antibiotic to generating the first-ever image of a black hole, machine learning is changing how scientists approach questions in many fields. Autism researchers are being equally creative, using machine-learning methods to improve diagnosis, classify the condition into subtype…

COVID-19 has descended. To save lives and mitigate the burden on the U.S. healthcare system, we must shelter in place. But where does that leave people with disabilities, especially the many who need special services and service providers to survive? To contain the pandemic, governments have, for go…

Following a series of scandals in the United Kingdom over people with autism being held against their will and mistreated in hospitals, a watchdog group has issued a legal challenge to the government. The incidents highlight that the entire system of care for people on the spectrum is in need of an …