News / Spectrum

Emotional dysregulation; NMDA receptor variation; frank autism

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 25 November.

By Jill Adams
26 November 2024 | 1 min read
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https://doi.org/10.53053/VJZT8061 https://doi.org/10.53053/VJZT8061 - opens a new tab Cite this article
Research image of the NMDA receptor in humans.
Location, location: Human variants of the NMDA receptor occur in many areas (blue dots) on the molecular complex; those linked to neurodevelopmental conditions tend to be closer to the receptor’s pore (red dots).
  • Molecular analysis of genetic variants in subunits of the NMDA receptor, some of which contribute to autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions, reveals a relationship between pathogenicity and protein structure. Human Molecular Genetics
  • Initial impressions of autism traits in adolescents and young adults, used to identify frank autism, generally correlate with formal diagnosis, according to a new study, but nearly a third of autistic people in the work were misidentified as non-autistic. One of the investigators previously authored a Spectrum commentary on the concept of frank, or prototypical, autism. Molecular Autism

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