Index

Recent articles

Spectrum Index: Self-harm hospitalizations, everolimus flops in phase 2 trial

This month’s newsletter also highlights deflated autism prevalence estimates from Shanghai, China.

By Niko McCarty
30 May 2022 | 3 min read

Spectrum Index: Dip in autism screening, null cancer risk, therapist surge

This month’s newsletter looks at a decline in well-child visits during the coronavirus pandemic, the autism-cancer connection and the sizeable fraction of autistic children who live in poverty.

By Niko McCarty
28 April 2022 | 2 min read

Spectrum Index: Rare genetic diagnoses, obesity odds, violence against children

This month’s newsletter looks at the minority of autistic people who have an identifiable genetic cause for their condition, and at the fraction of autistic children who are obese.

By Niko McCarty
31 March 2022 | 3 min read

Spectrum Index: IQ deviations, rural disparities and underweight infants

This monthly newsletter offers quick statistics on the latest data-centric, autism research studies.

By Niko McCarty
23 February 2022 | 3 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Pixelated human brain scans showing the distribution of mitochondria.

Mitochondrial ‘landscape’ shifts across human brain

Evolutionarily newer regions sport mitochondria with a higher capacity for energy production than older regions, according to the first detailed map of the organelles in a tissue slice, adding to mounting evidence that the brain features a metabolic gradient.

By Claudia López Lloreda
25 April 2025 | 6 min read
A clinician holds a clipboard while someone else sits on a couch.

Expediting clinical trials for profound autism: Q&A with Matthew State

Aligning Research to Impact Autism, a new initiative funded by the Sergey Brin Family Foundation, wants to bring basic science discoveries to the clinic faster.

By Lauren Schenkman
24 April 2025 | 8 min read
Illustration of astrocytes in a petri dish.

This paper changed my life: Shane Liddelow on two papers that upended astrocyte research

A game-changing cell culture method developed in Ben Barres’ lab completely transformed the way we study astrocytes and helped me build a career studying their reactive substates.

By Shane Liddelow
23 April 2025 | 6 min read