Cognitive aging: Several new papers address interactions between autism and dementia, including comorbidity and influential factors. A large study of Medicare and Medicaid records found that more autistic adults develop senile dementia than their non-autistic peers, whereas fewer receive a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. A similarly sized study of electronic health records reported that “high-functioning” autistic adults are more likely to progress to dementia than those without autism. Other researchers explored factors that may contribute to the overlap—genetics and polypharmacy. Autistic people tend to have higher polygenic risk scores for Alzheimer’s disease, and rates of cognitive decline were associated with taking anticholinergic medications.
Autism research spotted this week:
- “Dim light at night disrupts the sleep-wake cycle and exacerbates abnormal EEG activity in CNTNAP2 knockout mice: Implications for autism spectrum disorders” Molecular Autism
- “Prenatal maternal immune activation triggers lasting cell-specific transcriptomic dysregulation in the amygdala of primate offspring” Molecular Psychiatry
- “An examination of racial bias in scoring the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) Module 3: An item response theory analysis” Autism Research
- “Loss of the MECP2 gene in parvalbumin interneurons leads to an inhibitory deficit in the amygdala and affects its functional connectivity” Molecular Autism
- “Long-lasting astrocyte remodeling in Dravet syndrome SCN1A+/– mouse model” bioRxiv
