October 10, 2022
- A team of researchers at the University of Florida has secured a five-year, $10 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate cognitive changes in the brain that occur in people with autism as they age. The team aims to explore if aging is accelerated in people with autism. If it is, they want to know why this acceleration happens and how to offset it to optimize the health of adults with autism.
- Michigan State University is hosting a free webinar titled “Autism Spectrum Disorder: Understanding-Gene Environment Interactions.” Daniel Campbell, Ph.D., will address genetics’ role in inheriting autism, increasing diagnosis rates, why high heritability is not the only factor in autism risk and environmental factors that could contribute to the risk of autism.
- The current NIEHS Environmental Factor includes an interview with autism researcher Kristen Lyall, Sc.D., who discusses optimal maternal diets and supplementation to mitigate the risk of autism. She suggests pregnant mothers should receive folic acid supplementation, follow an anti-inflammatory diet and eat foods rich in polyunsaturated fats.
- A new study published in Biological Psychiatry has discovered no significant differences between the cerebellum of individuals with autism and those without the disorder. Additionally, there were no significant deviations in the study’s normative models in the cerebellum in individuals with autism. The research also found no evidence of cerebellar atypicalities related to age, IQ, sex, or social functioning in those with autism.
