A new five-year, $5 million research initiative launched by the Jake Collective and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention aims to address the mental health needs of neurodivergent children and adolescents, according to project organizers. The effort follows the 2024 suicide death of 19-year-old Brown University student Jacob Schreiber, whose family established the nonprofit foundation … Read more
Researchers at the University of California San Diego and the Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine have successfully treated two children with SCN2A-related developmental epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) using personalized, allele-selective antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs). According to a study published July 21, 2026, in Nature Medicine, the therapy reduced seizure frequency by up to 90%, improved developmental … Read more
New research published in Science Translational Medicine indicates that congenital cerebral ventriculomegaly (CCV)—a condition marked by fluid-filled brain ventricle swelling—is frequently linked to rare, damaging gene mutations. According to investigators at the Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute, these genetic findings suggest that CCV is often a marker of underlying neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, … Read more
A KFF tracking poll indicates that the future of public health may depend on addressing a “malleable middle” of Americans who express uncertainty about vaccine myths. As AI and social media usage grow, researchers suggest that the gap between misinformation and medical truth may widen for those without trusted healthcare providers. Why the “malleable middle” … Read more
Gene-edited Beagle dogs may bridge the gap between laboratory research and human clinical trials for autism spectrum disorder. According to a review in Genomic Psychiatry, these dogs provide a unique social dimension missing in mice and monkeys, potentially addressing the 90% failure rate of current autism drug candidates. Why are current autism drug trials failing … Read more
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have identified a specific circuit of neurons in the brainstem that acts as a control center for selective spatial attention. By silencing these neurons in mice, scientists observed that the animals became hyper-distractable, failing to filter out competing visual information. This discovery, published in Nature Communications, suggests that the biological … Read more
Wesley Mission Queensland will close its ORCA Project, an employment training program for young people with disability, on June 26, 2025. The charity cited an “increasingly complex” National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) environment, marked by rising costs and regulatory changes, as the primary driver for the decision. The program, which supported 90 participants last year, … Read more
Researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) have identified shared molecular pathways across diverse autism spectrum disorder (ASD) genetic models, according to a study published in Nature. By utilizing single-nucleus multi-omics sequencing, the team discovered that while genetic mutations differ, they often trigger identical developmental delays in brain cell maturation. This finding … Read more
A study published in JAMA Network Open suggests that parental fertility challenges—not IVF itself—are linked to small differences in children’s neurodevelopment. Researchers found that children of parents facing infertility showed higher odds of autism-like traits and ADHD, regardless of whether medical fertility treatments were used during conception. What did the ECHO Cohort study reveal? Researchers … Read more
The Hidden Aging Crisis: Why Autistic Traits Lead to Worsening Anxiety in Later Life For decades, the conversation surrounding autism has been dominated by childhood development. However, a significant, often-overlooked demographic is now demanding our attention: the middle-aged and older adult population. A landmark study published in Nature Mental Health has revealed that adults with … Read more