- A suicide-risk screening tool modified for use in autistic people compares well with clinician-based assessments. Spectrum previously covered a different questionnaire to assess suicidal thoughts and behaviors in people on the spectrum. Autism
- Mice missing the FMR1 gene, a model of fragile X syndrome, show autism-like behaviors and disruptions in neural connections between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex, according to a preprint. bioRxiv
- Sleep disruption in juvenile mice impairs performance on cognitive tasks and alters synaptic function in the brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- In other news on sleep, mice carrying variants of the autism-linked SHANK3 gene displayed altered sleep patterns that differ between males and females. Biology of Sex Differences
- Three children with deletions in the CHASERR gene, which encodes a long noncoding RNA, show increased CHD2 expression and have a clinical syndrome marked by encephalopathy and cerebral hypomyelination. Spectrum has reported on how noncoding regions of the genome may affect autism. The New England Journal of Medicine
- Most adolescents with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome show at least one neuropsychiatric trait, even if they don’t have a formal diagnosis. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research
- Young adults and women have had the greatest increases in rates of autism diagnosis in the United States between 2011 and 2022. JAMA Network Open
If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, help is available. Here is a worldwide directory of resources and hotlines that you can call for support.
