INSAR 2019

Recent articles

Two twin girls wearing blue kneeling down on the ground.

Early life experiences may shift severity of autism

A child’s environment exerts a strong influence on the severity of her autism, a study of identical twins suggests.

By Jessica Wright
17 January 2020 | 4 min read
View of downtown Montreal

Reactions from INSAR 2019

The autism research community is gathering in Montreal, Canada, this week for the meeting of the International Society for Autism Research.

By Claire Cameron
4 May 2019 | 29 min read
Teacher reading a book with a class of children

U.S. autism prevalence in black children based on few families

A national survey that estimates autism prevalence includes too few black families to yield accurate data for that demographic.

By Jessica Wright
4 May 2019 | 3 min read
Child in magnetoencephalograph (MEG) scanner

Brains of minimally verbal autistic children respond slowly to sound

Several of the brain’s responses to sound are sluggish in autistic children who speak few or no words, compared with those who are verbal.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
4 May 2019 | 4 min read
mother talking to a baby on bed

Signs of autism may be heard early in infancy

Autistic infants as young as 4 months may have fewer verbal exchanges with their caregivers than their peers do.

By Jessica Wright
4 May 2019 | 2 min read
Child in sad posture, seen from through a textured glass window

Many autistic children contemplate suicide, screens suggest

About 10 percent of autistic children have suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
4 May 2019 | 3 min read
African american woman alone in medical setting

Landmark summit on autism health care kicks off

A panel of autism scientists and advocates is charged with a tall order: making recommendations for the care of autistic people worldwide.

By Hannah Furfaro
4 May 2019 | 3 min read
A mother taking her two children to school

Genetic background may alter effect of autism mutations

A person’s genetic makeup can ease or worsen the effect of mutations linked to autism.

By Jessica Wright
4 May 2019 | 3 min read
Arab family walking on the autumn beach

First estimate of autism prevalence in Qatar finds high numbers

The prevalence of autism among school-aged children in Qatar is higher than the worldwide average.

By Hannah Furfaro
4 May 2019 | 3 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Null and Noteworthy: Neurons tracking sequences don’t fire in order

Instead, neurons encode the position of sequential items in working memory based on when they fire during ongoing brain wave oscillations—a finding that challenges a long-standing theory.

By Laura Dattaro
30 June 2025 | 4 min read

How to teach this paper: ‘Neurotoxic reactive astrocytes are induced by activated microglia,’ by Liddelow et al. (2017)

Shane Liddelow and his collaborators identified the factors that transform astrocytes from their helpful to harmful form. Their work is a great choice if you want to teach students about glial cell types, cell culture, gene expression or protein measurement.

By Ashley Juavinett
30 June 2025 | 10 min read

Astrocytes sense neuromodulators to orchestrate neuronal activity and shape behavior

Astrocytes serve as crucial mediators of neuromodulatory processes previously attributed to direct communication between neurons, four new studies show.

By Claudia López Lloreda
27 June 2025 | 9 min listen