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Spectrum is the go-to destination for the latest news and analysis about autism research and a springboard for scientists and clinicians to forge collaborations that deepen our understanding of autism.

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2025
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ASF Research Symposium
21 -23 JULY 2025
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We’re all speaking with one voice, and that one voice is saying these plans are simply not acceptable to any part of the autism community. — HELEN TAGER-FLUSBERG, PROFESSOR EMERITA OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

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“Widening the autism spotlight”
By MENG-CHUAN LAI IN SCIENCE
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Spectrum

The perils of parachute research

Scientists who study autism in lower-income countries are working to end practices that exploit or ignore collaborators and communities on the ground.

By Linda Nordling
6 June 2024 | 11 min read
Research video of a zebrafish larva (zoomed in on the gut) being given glucose.
Spectrum

On the periphery: Thinking ‘outside the brain’ offers new ideas about autism

Neuronal alterations outside the brain may help to explain a host of the condition’s characteristic traits, including sensory changes, gut problems and motor differences.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
13 April 2023 | 20 min read
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Illustration of an open journal featuring lines of text and small illustrations of eyes and mouths.

SHANK2 variants in people; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 12 May.

By Jill Adams
13 May 2025 | 1 min read
Research image of functional connectivity in a human brain.

Altered translation in SYNGAP1-deficient mice; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 5 May.

By Jill Adams
6 May 2025 | 2 min read
Research image of neural progenitor cells.

Documenting decades of autism prevalence; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 28 April.

By Jill Adams
29 April 2025 | 1 min read
Figure showing sleep archetypes in autistic children.

Rise in autism prevalence; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 21 April.

By Jill Adams
22 April 2025 | 2 min read
Research image of grids of mouse and human brain scans.

Too much or too little brain synchrony may underlie autism subtypes

Functional connectivity differences in autism mouse models point to two subtypes that correspond to patterns seen in some people with the condition.

By Calli McMurray
17 April 2025 | 6 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image of the spinal meninges in mice.

Immune cells block pain in female mice only

Regulatory T cells in the spinal meninges release endogenous opioids in a sex-specific manner, new work shows.

By Angie Voyles Askham
22 May 2025 | 5 min read
A disembodied hand holds a stamp over a messy stack of papers.

Exclusive: Layoffs revoked at U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

After more than a month of uncertainty, 30 previously purged employees at the institute no longer face termination.

By Angie Voyles Askham, Sydney Wyatt
21 May 2025 | 3 min read

John Beggs unpacks the critical brain hypothesis

Beggs outlines why and how brains operate at criticality, a sweet spot between order and chaos.

By Paul Middlebrooks
21 May 2025 | 94 min listen