Studies Reveal How Autism Appears in Girls’ Brains

A new study reveals how autism spectrum disorders (ASD) appear in girls’ brains and assumes to scientists that conclusions drawn primarily from studies conducted in boys apply to girls. I urged you to warn you that you shouldn’t.

Researchers have found that there is a significant difference in the “genetic burden” of the genes that support the condition of girls and boys. They also identified specific ways in which the brains of girls with ASD respond differently to social cues such as facial expressions and gestures than those of girls without ASD.

This new study provides a roadmap for understanding how current and future evidence-based interventions can be better matched to the underlying brain and genetic profile, allowing the right individuals to receive the right treatment. will do so. This broadly advances the understanding of autism by revealing that boys and girls may have different causes. This helps to understand intra-gender and inter-gender heterogeneity. “

Dr. Kevin Pelfrey, Principal Investigator, Top Autism Specialist, University of Virginia School of Medicine and UVA Brain Institute

Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders

New insights came from a radical research project led by UVA’s Pelphrey that brought together the expertise of Yale University. Harvard; University of California, Los Angeles; Children’s National; University of Colorado Denver; and Seattle Children’s. UVA’s key players included both Pelphrey of the School of Medicine and the School of Education and Human Development, and Dr. John D. Van Horn of the School of Data Science and the School of UVA Psychology.

This study combined state-of-the-art brain imaging with genetic research to better understand the effects of ASD in girls. These effects have not been fully investigated, as this condition is four times more common in boys.

Pelphrey et al. Used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study brain activity during social interactions. They found that girls with autism use different sections of the brain than girls who do not have ASD. And most surprisingly, the difference between a girl with autism and a girl without autism is not the same as the brain difference seen when comparing boys with and without autism, but by gender. It became clear that the mechanism of the brain working in autism is different.

Similarly, the researchers found that the underlying genetic contributors were quite different. The girl had numerous rare variants of the gene that were active during the early development of a region of the brain known as the striatum. This suggests that the effects on the striatum may contribute to the risk of ASD in girls. (Scientists believe that a section of the striatum called the putamen is involved in the interpretation of both social interaction and language.)

“The convergence of brain images and genetic data provides us with important new insights into the causes of autism in girls,” Perfrey said. “We hope that by working with colleagues at UVA’s Supporting Transformative Autism Research (STAR), we can leverage our findings to create new treatment strategies tailored to girls with autism.”

Published survey results

Researchers published their findings in scientific journals brain.. The research team includes Allison Jack, Catherine AW Sullivan, Elizabeth Isleward, Susan Y. Bookheimer, Milleradaplet, Nadine Garb, John D. Vanhorn, Jeffrey Islebot, The Curry Jay Coke, Carina M. Torgerson, Rafael A. Bernier, Consists of Daniel H. .. Geschwind, James C. McPartland, Charles A. Nelson, Sara J. Webb, Kevin A. Pelphrey, Abha R. Gupta, and the GENDAAR Consortium. The lead author of the study, Jack, is a George Mason faculty member and a former UVA graduate student.

McPartland is a Blackthorn Therapeutics consulting firm and receives research funding from Janssen Research and Development. He receives royalties from Guilford Press, Lambert and Springer.