Category: Autism

Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A New Therapeutic Target

Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A New Therapeutic Target


A recent study has provided direct evidence linking mitochondrial dysfunction in the brain with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and its associated communication deficits. This groundbreaking research could potentially pave the way for novel therapeutic interventions targeting the mitochondrial electron transport chain complex I, a key component of cellular energy production.

The study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, used positron emission tomography (PET) scans with a specific radioligand that binds to the mitochondrial electron transport chain complex I. This allowed the researchers to examine the distribution of mitochondrial dysfunction in the living brains of individuals with ASD.

The study involved 23 adult males with high-functioning ASD and 24 typically developed males, matched for age, parental socioeconomic background, and IQ. The researchers found that participants with ASD had significantly decreased availability of the radioligand, indicating mitochondrial dysfunction, specifically in the anterior cingulate cortex, a brain region associated with social behavior and communication.

Interestingly, the severity of this mitochondrial dysfunction was found to correlate with the severity of social communication deficits in individuals with ASD. This suggests a direct link between mitochondrial dysfunction and the core symptoms of ASD.

While previous studies have implicated mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathophysiology of ASD, this is the first study to demonstrate this link in living brains. The findings of this study support the possibility that mitochondrial electron transport chain complex I could be a novel therapeutic target for the core symptoms of ASD.

It’s important to note that while these findings are promising, further research is needed to fully understand the implications of these results and to develop effective therapeutic strategies.


Australian government report into Autism

Australian government report into Autism

Government Report Summary: Urgent Action Needed for Autistic Australians

Autistic Australians and their families face discrimination and barriers in accessing essential services and support. Maintaining the status quo is not an option.

Proposed Solution: A National Autism Strategy with clear goals and measurable progress to improve life outcomes for autistic individuals.

Focus Areas: Health, mental health, advocacy, employment, research, and service delivery workforce.

Alarming Statistics: Autistic people have 20+ years shorter life expectancy, double the mortality rate, high mental health issues, and a suicide risk. 75% don’t complete Year 12 education, unemployment rate is 8x higher than others, and they face higher homelessness and justice system risks.

Inclusion Issues: Autistic individuals often experience loneliness, isolation, exclusion, and discrimination, impacting their social participation and family life.

Hope for Change: Positive practices have shown potential for improvement. Addressing understanding, service integration, early intervention, and workforce capacity can make a difference.

Complex Issues: Poor outcomes result from inadequate understanding, workforce shortages, delays in diagnosis, fragmented service environment, and services not tailored to autistic needs.

Recommendations:

  1. National Autism Strategy: Coordinated effort to improve outcomes.
  2. Co-Design: Inclusive process involving the autism community, parents, carers, researchers, and policymakers.
  3. Accountability: Clear actions, targets, and reviews to drive genuine change.
  4. Priorities: Education, employment, health services, and support for families.
  5. Research Focus: Establish a national autism research agenda and a register for comprehensive data.

NDIS Inquiry: Separate inquiry needed to address NDIS issues for autistic participants.

Let’s stand together for a brighter future for autistic Australians and their families. #AutismAwareness #InclusionMatters #SupportForAll

https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Autism/autism/Report

Supporting autistic adults’ episodic memory recall in interviews: The role of executive functions, theory of mind, and language abilities – Jade Eloise Norris, Katie Maras, 2022

Supporting autistic adults’ episodic memory recall in interviews: The role of executive functions, theory of mind, and language abilities – Jade Eloise Norris, Katie Maras, 2022

“Autistic people have difficulties recalling episodic memories, including retrieving fewer or less specific and detailed memories compared to typically developing people. However, the ability to effectively recall episodic memories is crucial in many real-world contexts, such as the criminal justice system, medical consultations, and employment interviews. Autistic people’s episodic memory difficulties are most apparent when open, unsupportive questions are used. The ‘Task Support Hypothesis’ posits that autistic people can recall as much information as typically developing people with more supportive questioning. Alongside problems retrieving episodic memories, autistic people also experience difficulties with executive functioning, theory of mind, and expressive language. The current study aimed to assess the impact of these abilities on recall in two previous studies by the authors that compared autistic and typically developing adults on recall specificity in police, healthcare, and employment interviews, and recall quality in employment interviews under unsupported and supported questioning. Under unsupported questioning only, autistic adults’ episodic autobiographical memory recall specificity was predicted by expressive language, whereas for the typically developing group, only theory of mind was a significant predictor. No other predictors were significant across the study. Implications for the task support hypothesis are discussed.”

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613211030772

Weaponized heterogeneity only harms the most vulnerable autistic people | Spectrum | Autism Research News

Weaponized heterogeneity only harms the most vulnerable autistic people | Spectrum | Autism Research News

“Autistic people as a group are heterogeneous, with a wide range of presentations, challenges and support needs. That heterogeneity is commonly weaponized against more able autistic people, often by autism researchers or parents who wish to highlight the needs of their autistic children who have higher support needs. This tactic, however, can backfire and increase harm to the most vulnerable autistic people because it separates this group from the insights gained from autistic scholarship. Focusing on aspects of autistic experience that we all share may be more fruitful and lead more quickly to our shared goal of improved outcomes for all autistic people. “

https://www.spectrumnews.org/opinion/viewpoint/weaponized-heterogeneity-only-harms-the-most-vulnerable-autistic-people/

Frontiers | Neuroligins and Neurodevelopmental Disorders: X-Linked Genetics

Frontiers | Neuroligins and Neurodevelopmental Disorders: X-Linked Genetics

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that results in social-communication impairments, as well as restricted and repetitive behaviors. Moreover, ASD is more prevalent in males, with a male to female ratio of 4 to 1. Although the underlying etiology of ASD is generally unknown, recent advances in genome sequencing have facilitated the identification of a host of associated genes. Among these, synaptic proteins such as cell adhesion molecules have been strongly linked with ASD. Interestingly, many large genome sequencing studies exclude sex chromosomes, which leads to a shift in focus toward autosomal genes as targets for ASD research. However, there are many genes on the X chromosome that encode synaptic proteins, including strong candidate genes. Here, we review findings regarding two members of the neuroligin (NLGN) family of postsynaptic adhesion molecules, NLGN3 and NLGN4. Neuroligins have multiple isoforms (NLGN1-4), which are both autosomal and sex-linked. The sex-linked genes, NLGN3 and NLGN4, are both on the X chromosome and were among the first few genes to be linked with ASD and intellectual disability (ID). In addition, there is a less studied human neuroligin on the Y chromosome, NLGN4Y, which forms an X-Y pair with NLGN4X. We will discuss recent findings of these neuroligin isoforms regarding function at the synapse in both rodent models and human-derived differentiated neurons, and highlight the exciting challenges moving forward to a better understanding of ASD/ID.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnsyn.2020.00033/full?utm_source=ad&utm_medium=fb&utm_campaign=ba_sci-ib_fnsyn&fbclid=IwAR36e5QY8UEMquOtJfZgMyzHt-ml7w2jZZG8qvh1PSR36cp8WW3idTuJbE4

Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD with The Low Dose Naltrexone

Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD with The Low Dose Naltrexone

Endorphins and Autism

Some researchers have suggested that excessive opioid activity in autistic children causes them to engage in repetitive “self-stimulatory” and self-injurious behaviours to further stimulate the pain-induced release of endogenous opiates. This hypothesis resulted in many trials using the opioid antagonist naltrexone. The action of naltrexone is to block opioid receptors thus creating a rebound effect of increased endorphin release, which in turn modulates the immune response, reducing cytokines and so reducing inflammation.3

In several of these trials naltrexone helped to increase socialisation, eye contact, pain sensitivity and a decrease in self-injurious/stimulatory behaviours. Endorphins are not the only neurotransmitters thought to be involved in autism, serotonin and dopamine are also found in abnormal concentrations which are likely to contribute to the condition.4

The use of Low Dose Naltrexone for children with autism spectrum disorders was studied in the 1990’s with researchers using from 5 mg to 50 mg daily. Many researchers noted better results with lower doses.

While not presenting the ultimate answer in the treatment of autism, naltrexone is shown to help alleviate some of the symptoms modulated by endogenous opioids.

https://ldnresearchtrust.org/autism-spectrum-disorder-and-promising-treatment-low-dose-naltrexone-paula-johnson

ADHD and Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)

How about ADHD in an adult, and at what doses? Absolutely! I mean if it works in children, we might not use it in adults. We would still use typical dosing that we would use for pretty much anything else. You could start anywhere from 0.5 to 1.5, slowly increase the dose, and then top out at the maximum of 4.5 once a day. Not everybody gets to 4.5, and again that’s where working very closely with your medical professionals is going to help you find your happy dose.

https://ldnresearchtrust.org/adhd-and-low-dose-naltrexone-ldn

Frontiers | Autism As a Disorder of High Intelligence

Discussion
Risk and expression of autism is mediated by alterations to adaptive, evolved cognitive systems, and human intelligence represents one of the most important and pervasive changes along the human lineage and a principal source of cognitive variation among individuals. In this article, I have described the novel paradox that autism is positively genetically correlated with high intelligence, even though individuals with autism tend to have substantially lower IQs than controls. I then evaluated the idea that the paradox can be resolved under the hypothesis that autism involves high yet imbalanced intelligence, such that some or most components of intelligence are increased, but in such a way that overall performance is often reduced. This hypothesis extends previous studies of intelligence in relation to autism (e.g., Dawson et al., 2007; Hayashi et al., 2008; Nader et al., 2016) by providing the first comprehensive integration of the study of intelligence with the study of this condition, in the context of a novel “high and imbalanced intelligence” model that provides specific predictions and guidance for future work. The primary conclusions and implications from testing the hypothesis are four-fold.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2016.00300/full

Current Evidence on the Role of the Gut Microbiome in ADHD Pathophysiology and Therapeutic Implications – PubMed

Current Evidence on the Role of the Gut Microbiome in ADHD Pathophysiology and Therapeutic Implications – PubMed

Studies suggest that the bidirectional relationship existent between the gut microbiome (GM) and the central nervous system (CNS), or so-called the microbiome-gut-brain axis (MGBA), is involved in diverse neuropsychiatric diseases in children and adults. In pediatric age, most studies have focused on patients with autism. However, evidence of the role played by the MGBA in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the most common neurodevelopmental disorder in childhood, is still scanty and heterogeneous.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33467150/

ADHD & Autism: Similarities, Differences, & Treating Co-Occurences

ADHD & Autism: Similarities, Differences, & Treating Co-Occurences

“Both autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are conditions where the development of the brain has been affected in some way. This is known as a neurodevelopment disorder.

This means that both ASD and ADHD affect the central nervous system, potentially impacting social and focusing skills, language, movement, and memory. Much research has established that the two conditions typically coexist in patients, but there is no conclusive evidence to suggest why this is.”

https://www.elemy.com/studio/mood-disorders/adhd-and-autism/

Twice Exceptional: Gifted & Challenged with ADHD and More

Twice Exceptional: Gifted & Challenged with ADHD and More

“Twice exceptional” (2e) is the term used to describe intellectually gifted children with great potential for academic achievement who also have a learning disability or neurological challenge, like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD). Their exceptional intellectual abilities of 2e students are often masked or obscured by one or several conditions (or vice versa), making them one of the least recognized and supported populations.

https://www.additudemag.com/twice-exceptional-adhd-signs/