Noticed across the internet: Sleep disruption, new mind maps, autism and hydrocephalus | Spectrum
Research summary
- Autistic people experience more stress in the course of their adult lives than non-autistic people, and people in poor physical or mental health are most affected. Health psychology
- People with autism are, on average, just as adept at a study task as people without prediction; The predictive ability correlates with the ratio of glutamate and GABA in the frontal lobe, which tends to be changed in autistic people. Spectrum has covered how prediction problems might help explain the characteristics of autism. Molecular Autism
- Global efforts to map all brain cells – in mice and other species – have made great strides recently. nature
- The regulatory gene MEF2C appears to play a key role in the development of cortical interneurons. nature
- Social skills training appears to be less effective in autistic children with high polygenic risk scores for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. npj genomic medicine
- Children and adults with 16p11.2 copy number variants associated with autism may experience more sleep disorders than the general population. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
- Autistic children with good language skills but poor everyday skills can have more behavioral problems – both internalizing and externalizing – than their peers with poor language skills but good everyday skills. International Journal of Developmental Disorders
- Children on the spectrum who are afraid can benefit from family-oriented cognitive behavioral therapy that targets fears and insecurities, according to a pilot study. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Sometimes co-occurring autism and congenital hydrocephalus appear to share a biological pathway that involves the PTEN gene and the mTOR enzyme. Trends in Neuroscience
- Of all children born in Finland in 1987, those diagnosed with autism or psychosis as adolescents were more likely than their non-autistic contemporaries by age 20 to be underemployed and underqualified. British Journal of Psychiatry
Science and society
- MacArthur Fellow and neuroscientist Damien Fair says that because neuroscientific research touches all aspects of society, it needs society’s diversity to participate. Spectrum profiled fair in 2019. Neuron
- Neuroscientist Nadia Chaudhri, best known for helping students with underrepresented backgrounds, has died at the age of 43. Twitter
- Sesame Workshop has released a new animated video short film starring Julia, the autistic muppet from Sesame Street, in which she faces up to her fear of the dark. diversity
- The editors of the Journal of the American Academy Child & Adolescent Psychiatry are committed to publishing research articles on systemic racism and updating their author’s guide to highlight the diversity of the human experience. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
- The British Neuroscience Association offers grants for local in-person events and has announced a job fair in support of its members after the Society for Neuroscience canceled the in-person component of their 2021 conference. Spectrum covered the rejection and part of the response to it. Twitter
Quote this article: https://doi.org/10.53053/DFBV6697
