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Recent articles

Q&A with W. David Lohr: Antipsychotics, polypharmacy among autistic preschoolers

Hundreds of preschool-aged children in Kentucky began taking antipsychotic medicines in 2012, according to an analysis of Medicaid records. Lohr discusses what it will it take to get them behavioral therapies instead.

By Niko McCarty
21 September 2021 | 3 min read
Pregnant woman holding two white pills in her hand.

Prenatal exposure to antipsychotic medication does not increase odds of autism, ADHD

Children born to mothers who take antipsychotic drugs during pregnancy are not more likely to have autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or to be born preterm or underweight.

By Peter Hess
20 August 2021 | 2 min read
Brain and marijuana leaves

Q&A with Eric Hollander: Cannabis treatments for autism

As cannabis prohibition slowly lifts in the United States, scientists and families in the autism community are increasingly turning to the drug and its constituent compounds to ease autism-related difficulties, including seizures and irritability.

By Peter Hess
8 June 2021 | 6 min read

How aripiprazole’s promise for treating autism fell short

Aripiprazole, marketed as Abilify, is widely thought to be safer than risperidone, the only other drug approved for use in autistic children. A decade’s worth of data suggests that is not true.

By Hannah Furfaro
19 February 2020 | 24 min read
researchers, doctors and others work together to help a family and their autistic child. Family is at the center of a flower, and the researchers are moving the petals into place.

Medical ‘home’ programs offer coordinated care for autistic people

A Utah program provides comprehensive care for autistic people across the lifespan and engages families in the decision-making.

By Kathleen Campbell, Paul Carbone
13 August 2019 | 5 min read

Clinicians should consider off-label treatments for autism

Clinicians need a more consistent and evidence-based approach to prescribing antipsychotics to children and adolescents with autism.

By Maurizio Bonati
7 May 2019 | 5 min read
girl in medical setting

Psychotropic drugs frequently prescribed for autistic people

About one in three autistic people in the United Kingdom is prescribed drugs designed to alter brain function.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
11 February 2019 | 4 min read

Revelando los secretos del síndrome X frágil en Colombia

Una remota ciudad colombiana es el hogar del grupo más grande de personas con síndrome de X frágil. Los científicos están aprendiendo de ellos y tratando de ayudar.

By Hannah Furfaro
31 January 2019 | 18 min read
Juan Pablo Quintero, Sara Quintero, Soledad Quintero, Rosario Quintero, Yeison Quintero, pose for a group portrait in Ricaurte, Valle del Cauca, on July 28, 2018.

Unlocking the secrets of fragile X in Colombia

A remote Colombian town is home to the world's largest cluster of people with fragile X syndrome. Scientists are learning from them — and trying to help.

By Hannah Furfaro
10 October 2018 | 15 min read
Photo: Autistic woman Becky Audette lies on a couch under a purple blanket.

Rebooting Becky’s brain

An electrical brain implant all but erased the obsessions that had consumed Becky Audette, years after her autism diagnosis. Could similar implants help other people with severe autism?

By Ingrid Wickelgren
12 September 2018 | 28 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Chris Rozell explains how brain stimulation and AI are helping to treat mental disorders

Rozell and his colleagues, using deep brain stimulation and explainable artificial intelligence, have developed tools to help people with treatment-resistant depression.

By Paul Middlebrooks
13 August 2025 | 1 min read
Illustration of a musical staff with notes represented by neurons.

This paper changed my life: Abigail Person on birdsong, feed-forward circuits and convergent computations

By isolating specific neuron types involved in zebra finch birdsong, this 2002 Nature paper from Michael Fee and colleagues revealed elegant neural mechanisms controlling the timing of natural learned behavior.

By Abigail Person
12 August 2025 | 6 min listen
Research image of mouse auditory brainstems.

Prosocial effects of oxytocin are state dependent; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 11 August.

By Jill Adams
12 August 2025 | 2 min read