In a published May 29 in Nature Communications, a team of scientists at the 91±¬ĮĻ, the University of Minnesota and the Johns Hopkins University reports that differences in visual motion perception in ASD are accompanied by weaker neural ā€œsuppressionā€ in the visual cortex of the brain.

ā€œOur work suggests that there may be differences in how people with ASD focus their attention on objects in the visual world that could explain the difference in neural responses we are seeing and may be linked to symptoms like sensory hypersensitivity,ā€ said lead author , an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Minnesota.

Schallmo is a former 91±¬ĮĻ postdoctoral researcher who worked on this study with co-author , a 91±¬ĮĻ professor of psychology and a research affiliate with the 91±¬ĮĻ Center on Human Development and Disability.

ā€œOne of the interesting aspects of our findings is that they show that the reduction in neural suppression actually results in better performance in the motion discrimination task,ā€ said Murray. ā€œSo, a potential downside of reduced neural suppression is that it may lead to sensory hypersensitivity but it is also accompanied with a potential upside ā€” enhanced visual motion perception.ā€

The team used functional MRI and visual tasks to study visual perception in 28 young adults with ASD and 35 without ASD. They found that participants with ASD showed enhanced perception of large moving stimuli compared to those without ASD. Brain activity showed unique responses to visual stimuli in individuals with ASD: In particular, the visual cortex showed less neural ā€œsuppression,ā€ meaning that levels of activity in this region of the brain were higher than in participants without ASD.

The researchers also demonstrated that a computational model of neural behavior can explain the differences in brain responses that they found. These methods can help scientists model the differences in sensory processing that occur in the brains of people with ASD that may underlie this visual hypersensitivity.

Schallmo is currently working on a follow-up study of visual and cognitive function in youth with ASD, Tourette syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Having a better understanding of how these different disorders affect brain function could lead to new screenings to better identify children who are at risk for ASD and other conditions. It may also help scientists to find new targets for studies seeking to improve treatments for sensory symptoms in these disorders.

Co-authors on the paper are Tamar Kolodny, a postdoctoral researcher in the 91±¬ĮĻ Department of Psychology; former 91±¬ĮĻ postdoctoral researchers Rachel Millin and Anastasia Flevaris; , a doctoral student in the 91±¬ĮĻ Information School; , an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the 91±¬ĮĻ and the 91±¬ĮĻ Autism Center; Raphael Bernier, a former 91±¬ĮĻ associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences; and , a professor of radiology and radiological sciences at the Johns Hopkins University. This research funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Adapted from a by Kelly Glynn at the University of Minnesota.

“Nothing about us without us” is a phrase often used to express the need for people to have a say in designing policies that affect their own lives.

It’s also a key tenet in the , a resource created by the 91±¬ĮĻ together with several corporate partners. The 61-page document guides organizations and human resources professionals in creating and sustaining appropriate and well-supported employment opportunities for individuals on the autism spectrum.

The playbook offers step-by-step guidance for organizations interested in creating their own inclusive workplace programs, from designing a pilot program that fits the workplace to recruitment, hiring, training and support, as well as how to assist employees with career development and advancement.

“We created this playbook as a way to distill best practices of years of experience and tremendous passion. It is designed to empower organizations of all sizes across all sectors to join the fight to eradicate unemployment for the autism community,” said , an iSchool associate professor and principal investigator of the Autism at Work research project. “With this guide, organizations can find their way to creating an appropriate and successful inclusive work program that eliminates barriers and provides opportunities for individuals on the autism spectrum.”

The playbook uses insights gained from workplace experiences of the members of the multi-partner , launched in 2017. The roundtable comprises representatives of partner corporations working to reduce unemployment rates among individuals with autism, which are often . And according to a 2015 from Drexel University, only about 58% of young adults on the spectrum are employed outside the home after high school and before their early 20s.

The roundtable has grown from a handful of organizations to more than 15, including Microsoft, J.P. Morgan Chase, EY (Ernst & Young), SAP Software Solutions, Fidelity Investments and several more.

The guide itself is the product of a collaborative research project called , led by Annabi. In her research, Annabi worked with iSchool graduate student Liz Crooks to study autism-at-work programs already in place at Microsoft, SAP Software Solutions, JPMorgan Chase and EY (Ernst & Young). They looked at organizational strategies, employment and resourcing models, and hiring and training to discern best practices, and distilled them for the playbook.

The two conducted their research with the assistance of , an iSchool-based research group ā€” which is led by Annabi ā€” that works to improve the representation of women and individuals with autism in the information technology industry.

Annabi also discussed the playbook in an April 17 meeting in Washington, D.C., of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ in a presentation titled “Autism-Ready Workplace: Creating and Scaling Autism Hiring Initiatives.”

The playbook returns to the theme of “Nothing about us without us” in its chapters on program design and employee retention, and emphasizes several key points:

• Spend time with internal and external partners from the autism community to guide program design, and learn about your autism community’s needs, resources and preferences
• Customize your program to fit your organization and dedicate sufficient resources and focused attention to make it a success
• Avoid making assumptions about the skills, interests and needs of individuals with autism ā€” and ask questions to learn about the diversity in the needs, desires and talents of employees

“Only when we come together across organizations and industries will we truly make an impact in changing the unemployment rate for people with autism,”Ā  said Neil Barnett, director of inclusive hiring and accessibility at Microsoft.

Research and work on the Autism @ Work Playbook was sponsored by Microsoft.

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For more information about the Autism @ Work Playbook, contact Annabi at 206-685-5585 or hpannabi@uw.edu; to learn more about the Autism @ Work Employer Roundtable, visit or email info@disabilityin.org.

To new parents, a baby’s every gurgle and glance are fascinating, from a smile at mom or dad to a reach for a colorful toy.

But when a baby doesn’t look at parents and caregivers, imitate gestures and sounds, or engage in play, parents have questions. And a growing number are bringing their babies to the for answers.

As autism diagnoses have increased over the years ā€” an estimated has autism spectrum disorder ā€” parents have looked for signs earlier in their children’s lives, especially if they have an older child with autism. While the in the United States is around 4 years, a growing body of and practice suggests accurate assessment of children as young as 12 months old, though rare, is not only possible, but also useful.

“Many people have an unfounded belief that you have to wait until 36 months of age to diagnose autism. That is not the case,” said , who directs the 91±¬ĮĻ Autism Center and is a research affiliate at the . “There is a great deal of value in diagnosing as soon as symptoms emerge ā€” it gives parents a great deal of relief and allows appropriate intervention to begin.”

With only a few infant autism clinics scattered around the country, families have brought their Ā infants to the 91±¬ĮĻ Autism Center from elsewhere in the United States, and in a few cases, the world, Estes said. The natural next step was to dedicate services to them.

The center’s , officially established this spring, provides four clinical psychologists to evaluate infants and toddlers up to 24 months of age, along with teams of behavior analysts to create a treatment plan with clinic- and home-based activities ā€” just as would happen with older children. The difference, Estes explained, is the specific expertise with the infant population.

The Autism Center, part of the , has conducted a number of studies into the signs of autism and the effectiveness of intervention strategies. Earlier this year, Nature published from the center’s involvement in a North American effort that examined brain biomarkers in infants, including those with at least one autistic sibling. The study showed that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) helped correctly identify 80 percent of babies who would go on to be diagnosed with autism at 2 years of age Researchers are wrapping up another study, focused on toddlers 12 to 24 months old, that looks at structured intervention activities versus a more play-based approach.

That work bolsters the center’s diagnostic and treatment capacity with infants, Estes explained.

For older infants and toddlers, psychologists focus on social and communication deficits, said , a research scientist and clinical psychologist at the center. Typically-developing infants and toddlers spend time engaging and interacting with their caregivers, which helps them learn language and fosters their social development.

“Children showing the early signs of autism don’t do those things as much as expected, or they don’t do them at all,” St. John said. “We look at a repertoire of other behaviors as well: Do they do the same thing over and over? Do they pick up a toy and inspect it closely? Do they have a hard time when you change activities?”

It is less common to diagnose a very young child, St. John said, but when that happens, it’s typically because the symptoms are clear.

“Most people are hesitant to give a diagnosis to a child who isn’t showing clear signs of ASD. We tend to give early diagnoses to children who meet all of the criteria for a diagnosis, and if they’re not, we take an assessment-and-monitoring approach, where we give parents specific recommendations based on the childā€™s current challenges, and then see the child back 3 to 6 months later,” she explained.

Treatment would follow the same general trajectory, depending on the infant’s symptoms and development, as toddlers and older children. Specialists might work on communication, for instance, through strategies to encourage eye contact. As children age, they work with specialists on cognitive, social and motor skills, both individually and in peer groups. Much of the Autism Center’s approach is designed to give parents tools that they can use at home, Estes said.

Spotting the signs of autism early is critical, she added, so that a family can connect with the right services, whether in the clinic or out in the community.

A little over three years ago, the Autism Center accurately diagnosed its youngest client: a 10-month-old boy. Thanks to subsequent intervention activities, Estes said, he has developed communication skills, engages socially and is thriving in preschool.

###

For more information, contact Annette Estes, estesa@uw.edu; 206-543-1051.

Researchers from the 91±¬ĮĻ were part of led by the University of North Carolina to use MRI to measure the brains of “low-risk” infants, with no family history of autism, and “high-risk” infants who had at least one autistic older sibling. A computer algorithm was then used to predict autism before clinically diagnosable behaviors set in. was published Feb. 15 in the journal .

This is the first study to show that it is possible to use brain biomarkers to identify which infants in a high-risk pool ā€” that is, those having an older sibling with autism ā€” will be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, at 24 months of age.

“Typically, the earliest we can reliably diagnose autism in a child is age 2, when there are consistent behavioral symptoms, and due to health access disparities the average age of diagnosis in the U.S. is actually age 4,” said co-author and 91±¬ĮĻ professor of speech and hearing sciences , who is also director of the and a research affiliate at the 91±¬ĮĻ , or CHDD. “But in our study, brain imaging biomarkers at 6 and 12 months were able to identify babies who would be later diagnosed with ASD.”

The predictive power of the team’s findings may inform the development of a diagnostic tool for ASD that could be used in the first year of life, before behavioral symptoms have emerged.

“We don’t have such a tool yet,” said Estes. “But if we did, parents of high-risk infants wouldn’t need to wait for a diagnosis of ASD at 2, 3 or even 4 years and researchers could start developing interventions to prevent these children from falling behind in social and communication skills.”

People with ASD ā€” which includes 3 million people in the United States ā€” have characteristic social communication deficits and demonstrate a range of ritualistic, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors. In the United States, it is estimated that up to one out of 68 babies develops autism. But for infants with an autistic older sibling, the risk may be as high as one out of every five births.

This research project included hundreds of children from across the country and was led by researchers at four clinical sites across the United States: the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 91±¬ĮĻ, Washington University in St. Louis and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Other key collaborators are at the Montreal Neurological Institute, the University of Alberta and New York University.

“We have wonderful, dedicated families involved in this study,” said , a 91±¬ĮĻ professor of radiology and associate director of the CHDD, who led the study at the 91±¬ĮĻ. “They have been willing to travel long distances to our research site and then stay up until late at night so we can collect brain imaging data on their sleeping children. The families also return for follow-up visits so we can measure how their child’s brain grows over time. We could not have made these discoveries without their wholehearted participation.”

Researchers obtained MRI scans of children while they were sleeping at 6, 12 and 24 months of age. The study also assessed behavior and intellectual ability at each visit, using criteria developed by Estes and her team. They found that the babies who developed autism experienced a hyper-expansion of brain surface area from 6 to 12 months, as compared to babies who had an older sibling with autism but did not themselves show evidence of autism at 24 months of age. Increased surface area growth rate in the first year of life was linked to increased growth rate of brain volume in the second year of life. Brain overgrowth was tied to the emergence of autistic social deficits in the second year.

The researchers input these data ā€” MRI calculations of brain volume, surface area, and cortical thickness at 6 and 12 months of age, as well as sex of the infants ā€” into a computer program, asking it to classify babies most likely to meet ASD criteria at 24 months of age. The program developed the best algorithm to accomplish this, and the researchers applied the algorithm to a separate set of study participants.

Researchers found that, among infants with an older ASD sibling, the brain differences at 6 and 12 months of age successfully identified 80 percent of those infants who would be clinically diagnosed with autism at 24 months of age.

If these findings could form the basis for a “pre-symptomatic” diagnosis of ASD, health care professionals could intervene even earlier.

“By the time ASD is diagnosed at 2 to 4 years, often children have already fallen behind their peers in terms of social skills, communication and language,” said Estes, who directs behavioral evaluations for the network. “Once you’ve missed those developmental milestones, catching up is a struggle for many and nearly impossible for some.”

Research could then begin to examine interventions on children during a period before the syndrome is present and when the brain is most malleable.Ā  Such interventions may have a greater chance of improving outcomes than treatments started after diagnosis.

“Our hope is that early intervention ā€” before age 2 ā€” can change the clinical course of those children whose brain development has gone awry and help them acquire skills that they would otherwise struggle to achieve,” said Dager.

The research team has gathered additional behavioral and brain imaging data on these infants and children ā€” such as changes in blood flow in the brain and the movement of water along networks ā€” to understand how brain connectivity and neural activity may differ between high-risk children who do and don’t develop autism. In a published Jan. 6 in , the researchers identified specific brain regions that may be important for acquiring an early social behavior called joint attention, which is orienting attention toward an object after another person points to it.

“These longitudinal imaging studies, which follow the same infantsĀ  as they grow older, are really starting to hone in on critical brain developmental processes that can distinguish children who go on to develop ASD and those who do not,” said Dager. “We hope these ongoing efforts will lead to additional biomarkers, which could provide the basis for early, pre-symptomatic diagnosis and serve also to guide individualized interventions to help these kids from falling behind their peers.”

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, and the .

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For more information, contact Estes at 206-543-1051 or estesa@uw.edu and Dager at 206-616-1558 or srd@uw.edu.

Grant numbers: HD055741, HD003110, R01 MH093510, 6020, 140209.

Adapted from by the UNC news office.

The study will involve testing childrenā€™s teeth for levels of environmental chemicals that they might have been exposed to in the womb, a critical time for neurodevelopment. Additionally, for a smaller number of children whose genetic data has been collected, the researchers hope to explore whether genetic susceptibility plays a role in how chemical exposure might impact autism risk.

The initiative is focused on children with older siblings who have autism, since they have a much higher risk of developing it ā€” roughly one in five is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, versus the national average of one in 68. The study could provide new insight on whether those children are also at a higher risk of autism from environmental factors, said , one of three 91±¬ĮĻ researchers involved in the study.

“The causal factors related to autism are largely genetic, but the risk of autism doesnā€™t seem to be accounted for by genetics alone,” said Estes, director of the and a research professor in speech and hearing sciences.

“There are probably a lot of different environmental factors that might increase the risk for someone who already has that genetic risk.”

The study is being led by Drexel University in Philadelphia and will involve more than 1,700 children, including almost 1,300 who have siblings with autism and are therefore considered high-risk, and a comparison group of more than 400 children classified as low-risk since they donā€™t have siblings with autism. The 91±¬ĮĻ researchers will work with children that have undergone brain imaging and other autism testing at the 91±¬ĮĻ over the past decade, starting at between three and six months of age.

The other 91±¬ĮĻ researchers are , director of the Research in Early Autism Detection and Intervention () Lab, and , a 91±¬ĮĻ professor of radiology and associate director of the .

“This is an innovative and exciting approach,ā€ Dager said. “The opportunity to analyze deciduous teeth as a reservoir of toxin exposure before birth and in the post-natal period holds great promise for better understanding environmental influences on the development of autism.”

Chemicals being examined in the study include heavy metals and organochlorine pesticides such as , and that were once widely used in electrical equipment. Though banned in the 1970s, the chemicals remain in the environment and human exposure continues. The study will also look at , used to soften plastic and as solvents in cosmetics and other consumer goods.

The work is being funded by the National Institutes of Health under its new Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes Initiative. Wednesday, the seven-year effort will provide $157 million for a variety of projects looking at how exposure to environmental factors in early development ā€” from conception through early childhood ā€” impacts health in children and adolescents.

“This project provides a unique opportunity for us to learn about the contribution of environmental risk factors to the development of ASD,” Stone said. “Studying the shed teeth of children who were high-risk infants, in combination with information about which infants have later been diagnosed with ASD, will help us understand which specific environmental chemicals may or may not be associated with ASD symptom development.”

By providing new insights into the complex mechanisms underlying autism, the study could lead to more effective prevention, said Stone, who is also a 91±¬ĮĻ professor of psychology.

“Identifying different levels and types of autism risk will enable us to provide specialized preventive strategies, with the goal of improving outcomes for children as well as their families,” she said.

Other institutions involved in the study are Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Washington University, Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, John Hopkins University, the Kennedy Krieger Institute, the University of Miami, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Childrenā€™s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of California, Davis.

For more information, contact Estes at estesa@uw.edu or 206-543-1051, Stone at stonew@uw.edu or 206-685-2821 or Dager at srd@uw.edu or 206-616-1558.

This story was adapted from a news release from Drexel University.

During its almost half-century on television, ā€œSesame Streetā€ has tackled thorny issues ranging from divorce to death,Ā food insecurityĀ and parental incarceration.

The show is now turning its attention to autism, and a 91±¬ĮĻ expert played a pivotal role in the effort.

, director of the 91±¬ĮĻā€™s Lab, helped ā€œSesame Streetā€ develop content for its initiative, which launches today (Oct. 21). Stone thinks the project will promote broader awareness of autism, which impacts an estimated children in the U.S.

ā€œThis puts autism in a normalized community context,ā€ she said. ā€œI think there will be more acceptance and recognition, and less fear of the unknown, if people understand more about what autism is.ā€

The initiative will provide aimed at helping parents and caregivers of children with autism deal with everyday activities such as getting dressed and playing with other children. The effort includes a free iPad app, instructional cards and digital and printed storybooks featuring ā€œSesame Streetā€ Muppets Elmo and Abby Cadabby and a new character named Julia who has autism. A social media campaign using the hashtag #seeamazing will encourage parents to share stories about their childrenā€™s abilities.

ā€œWeā€™re trying to convey that children share lots of things,ā€ said Jeanette Betancourt, ā€œSesame Streetā€ senior vice president for U.S. social impact. ā€œThey want to play together. They want to have friends. They want to be loved.

ā€œThere may be differences, but our hope is that weā€™re connecting children with autism with the general community and creating better understanding.”

Stone wrote a background paper about autism in 2010 with at Vanderbilt University that helped ā€œSesame Streetā€ executives determine whether to proceed with the campaign. Later, Stone and 11 other advisory board members from autism organizations and universities around the country reviewed materials as they were being developed.

ā€œWendy has been an amazing resource for us,ā€ Bentancourt said.

Stoneā€™s role also involved making recommendations about what types of materials might be helpful and how to present autistic behaviors in an accurate way that neither stereotypes nor sugarcoats the realities of the disorder.

The idea of creating a live Muppet with autism was floated early on, Stone said, but she recommended against it. It would be difficult to portray autism correctly, she said, since the disorder is more often characterized by the absence of expected behaviors rather than the ones it is typically associated with, such as hand-flapping and rocking.

ā€œI thought there was a danger of it focusing more on the negative stereotypical behavior,ā€ Stone said.

Instead, the Julia character was incorporated into the storybooks, where she talks with her friends Elmo and Abby about how she is bothered by certain noises and might be paying attention even though she has difficulty making eye contact. The materials impressed Stone.

ā€œTheyā€™re just so well done,ā€ she said. ā€œThey explain things in a way thatā€™s relatable to kids and adults and normalizes autism.ā€

Betancourt said the initiative grew out of demand from the autism community and from ā€œSesame Streetā€ hearing repeatedly from parents that their children with autism felt a comforting connection with the showā€™s Muppets. But there were few resources available that emphasized the commonalities children with autism share with other children, Betancourt said, so “Sesame Street” decided to take on the issue.

The showā€™s producers conducted research with educators and service providers who work with children with autism, and with families who have children with autism as well as those with typically developing. They found that educators and service providers were hungry for information on how to better work with children with autism, Betancourt said, and that families with typically developing children often did not know how to approach parents of kids with autism.

ā€œThey felt uncomfortable because they didnā€™t know which questions to ask or how to connect,ā€ she said.

The content will not yet air on the television show, but a ā€œSesame Streetā€ spokesperson said it may in the future. In the meantime, Stone hopes the initiative will help reduce the stigma and isolation that affects many children with autism and their families.

ā€œPeople know the word autism, but I think theyā€™re still scared of interacting with a parent of a kid with autism, or inviting them for a play date,ā€ she said. ā€œThis will provide an in-depth explanation in a ā€˜Sesame Streetā€™ way, which is very positive and accepting. I think it could be very, very powerful.ā€

As a result, they often donā€™t get specialized services during the critical period up to age 3 that can greatly improve their skills and behavior.

A new project at the 91±¬ĮĻ aims to address that delay and ensure that children with autism are identified and helped early enough to prevent problems later on. The five-year, $3.9 million initiative is being carried out by the 91±¬ĮĻ’s (READi) Lab and will begin early this spring.

The project is being implemented in four Washington counties ā€” Skagit, Lewis, Spokane and Yakima ā€” with high numbers of Latino children, who tend to get diagnosed with autism later than others. The initiative is expected to result in earlier, autism-specialized treatment for families statewide.

Parents arriving at a doctorā€™s office for their childā€™s 18-month checkup will get tablets loaded with a set of screening questions for autism in toddlers. The questions ask about specific behaviors and situations ā€” for example, whether the child gets upset by everyday noises, plays make-believe and is interested in other children.

Project leaders hope to catch many more children at risk for autism even before a formal diagnosis is made. Lead researcher , a 91±¬ĮĻ professor of psychology, said while Washington has been a leader in developing innovative programs for identifying children with special needs, the national health care systemā€™s approach to managing those children isnā€™t working.

ā€œWeā€™re stuck with this model where a child needs to get a diagnosis before she or he can get specialized services, but there are such long waiting lists for a diagnosis that kids age out of the birth-to-3 system, which results in a lost opportunity,ā€ said Stone.

An estimated one in 68 children is currently with autism spectrum disorder, characterized by delays in social interaction and communication, and restricted, repetitive behaviors and interests. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends all children be screened for autism at 18 months.

But not all pediatricians follow that practice, Stone said, leaving many children undiagnosed for months or years while parents grasp for answers.

ā€œItā€™s very stressful,ā€ she said. ā€œImagine youā€™re worried about your child having autism and how theyā€™re interacting with you, and you canā€™t get an answer about whatā€™s going on. Itā€™s a period of uncertainty and frustration.ā€

Even when children are finally diagnosed, it can be difficult to find an early intervention provider with expertise in autism. Generic interventions donā€™t necessarily address the specific challenges of children with autism.

ā€œIf you donā€™t attend to the social deficit issues, they can get worse,ā€ said , the projectā€™s manager and a 91±¬ĮĻ research scientist. ā€œItā€™s important to act on the early signs and symptoms of autism.ā€

The standard screening process involves a checklist with 20 questions that parents can answer. If a child screens positive, the physician is expected to ask a series of follow-up questions. But that often doesnā€™t happen, Stone said, since pediatricians are often pressed for time.

To streamline the process, the 91±¬ĮĻā€™s is developing a Web-based version of the screening that incorporates the follow-up questions. Toddlers who screen positive will be quickly referred to local early intervention programs, where they will receive additional . An off-site psychologist will work with those programs through telemedicine technology to provide guidance and interpret screening results.

The project is also promoting the use of a simple play-based intervention that begins with imitating a childā€™s actions with toys. The adult then models a slightly different action and encourages the child to mimic it. Itā€™s a fun approach that early-intervention providers can use and coach parents to do the same with their own children. The intervention has been to improve social and language skills, and provides a tangible way parents can help.

ā€œIt can really empower parents,ā€ Stone said. ā€œIt builds interactions, and the parents feel so much more connected with the kids.ā€

The project is one of 12 being funded by the National Institute of Mental Health to create innovative service delivery models for children, youth and adults with autism spectrum disorder. The grants were last September.

The 91±¬ĮĻ initiative will require physicians and service providers to attend a training workshop, distribute recruitment materials to parents and complete numerous checklists. Stone acknowledges that the effort asks a great deal of participants. But thereā€™s much at stake for toddlers with autism, she points out.

ā€œThis project has important implications for health care for these kids,ā€ she said. ā€œAutism just doesnā€™t fit that medical model where you get a diagnosis and thereā€™s treatment for it. Because often, you canā€™t get to the diagnosis part.ā€

A class of drugs used to treat anxiety and epileptic seizure reduces some autistic behaviors in mice, when given in low, non-sedating doses.Ā  These findings point to the possibility of testing a new therapeutic approach to managing autism in people. The findings are reported in the March 19 issue of the CELL journal Neuron.

William Catterall, 91±¬ĮĻ chair and professorĀ  of pharmacology, is senior author ofĀ  the research paper.

ā€œThese are very exciting results because they suggest that existing drugs, called benzodiazepines, might be useful in treatment of the core deficits in autism,ā€ he said

These deficits include repetitive behaviors and difficulty relating to others.Ā The condition is oftenĀ accompanied by specificĀ learning problems.Ā Catterall explained that a particular, well-studiedĀ strain of miceĀ acts inĀ ways thatĀ resemble theseĀ autistic traits.Ā  Scientists are interested in their brain chemistry.

Normally, inhibitory nerve cells in the brainĀ send chemical signals that put the brake on excitatory nerve cells. Research indicates that the strain of mice with autistic behaviors have lower activity of inhibitory neurons and higher activity of excitatory neurons in the brain.Ā In the study, scientists restored the balance with low, nonsedatingĀ doses of benzodiazipine.

ā€œOur results provide strong evidence that increasing inhibitory neurotransmission is an effective approach to improvement of social interactions, repetitive behaviors, and cognitive deficits in a well-established autism animal model that has some similar behavioral features as human autism,ā€ Catterall said.

Read at the new site for the 91±¬ĮĻ Health Sciences and 91±¬ĮĻ Medicine news.

on the research.

The finding that early brain chemical alterations tend to normalize during the course of development in children with autism spectrum disorder gives new insight to efforts to improve early detection and intervention.Ā The findings were reported July 31 in theĀ 

ā€œIn autism, we found a pattern of early chemical alterations at the cellular level that over time resolved ā€“ a pattern similar to what others have seen with people who have had a closed head injury and then got better,ā€ said Stephen R. Dager, a 91±¬ĮĻ professor of radiology and adjunct professor of bioengineering and associate director of 91±¬ĮĻā€™s Center on Human Development and Disability.

Neva Corrigan, a senior research fellow in radiology, was first author and Dager corresponding author of the study, titled ā€œAtypical Developmental Patterns of Brain Chemistry in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.ā€

ā€œThe brain developmental abnormalities we observed in the children with autism are dynamic, not static. These early chemical alterations may hold clues as to specific processes at play in the disorder and, even more exciting, these changes may hold clues to reversing these processes,ā€ Dager said.

In the study, scientists compared brain chemistry among three groups of children: those with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, those with a diagnosis of developmental delay and those considered typically developing. The researchers used magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging, a type of MRI, to measure tissue-based chemicals in three age groups: 3 to 4 years old, 6 to 7 years and 9 to 10 years.

One of the chemicals measured, N-acetylaspartate, is thought to play an important role in regulating synaptic connections and myelination. Its levels are decreased in people with conditions such as Alzheimerā€™s, traumatic brain injury or stroke. Other chemicals examined in the study ā€“ choline, creatine, glutamine/glutamate and myo-inositol ā€“ help characterize brain tissue integrity and bioenergetic status.

A notable finding concerned changes in gray matterĀ N-acetylaspartate concentration: In scans of the 3-to 4-year-olds, concentrations were low in both the autism spectrum disorder and developmentally delayed groups. By 9 to 10 years, N-acetylaspartate levels in the children with autism spectrum disorder had caught up to the levels of the typically developing group, while low levels ofĀ N-acetylaspartate persisted in the developmentally delayed group.

ā€œA substantial number of kids with early, severe autism symptoms make tremendous improvements. Weā€™re only measuring part of the iceberg, but this is a glimmer that we might be able to find a more specific period of vulnerability that we can measure and learn how to do something more proactively,ā€ said Annette Estes, a co-author of the study and director of the 91±¬ĮĻ Autism Center. She is an associate professor of speech and hearing sciences.

Study co-author Dennis Shaw, a 91±¬ĮĻ professor of radiology and director of MRI at Seattle Childrenā€™s, observed that the findings ā€œparallel some of the early brain structural differences we and others have found on MRI that also appear to normalize over time in children with autism. These chemical findings will help to better establish the timing and mechanisms underlying genetic abnormalities known to be involved in at least some cases of autism.ā€

Dager and 91±¬ĮĻ colleagues are currently using more advanced MRI methods to study infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder because of an older sibling with autism.

ā€œWeā€™re looking prospectively at these children starting at 6 months to determine if we can detect very early alterations in brain cell signaling or related cellular disruption that may precede early, subtle clinical symptoms of ASD.ā€

Despite the encouraging finding, science has yet to pinpoint the when, what and why of autismā€™s inception, an event often likened to the flipping of a switch. Discovering the earliest period that a childā€™s brain starts to develop a profile of autism spectrum disorder is crucial because, as the study acknowledged, ā€œeven a relatively brief period of abnormal signaling between glial cells and neurons during early development would likely have a lasting effectā€ on how a childā€™s brain network develops.

This study also suggests that developmental delay and autism spectrum disorder are distinct disorders having different underlying brain mechanisms and treatment considerations, Dager said.

ā€œAutism appears to have a different pathophysiology and different early biological course than idiopathic developmental disorder. There are differences in their underlying biological processes; this supports the notion that ASD is different from developmental delay and challenges the notion that the increasing prevalence of autism merely reflects a re-categorization of symptoms between autism and intellectual disabilities.ā€

The study was conducted by scientists from 91±¬ĮĻā€™s departments of Radiology, Speech and Hearing Sciences, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Anesthesiology and Bioengineering; the Department of Radiology at Seattle Childrenā€™s; the Department of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and the Autism Speaks organization in New York City.

This study was supported by National Institutes of Health grants 2P01 HD 35465, 1P50 HD 55782, and 1R01 HD 065283.

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