#autismresearch — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #autismresearch, aggregated by home.social.
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DATE: September 12, 2026 at 06:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Autistic individuals might be somewhat better at reading emotions of other autistic people
A study comparing the abilities of autistic and non-autistic individuals to recognize other people’s emotions found no overall main differences between the two groups. However, autistic individuals were more accurate at reading the emotional valence of other autistic individuals. The paper was published in Molecular Autism.
Empathy is the ability to understand another person’s thoughts and feelings. It also includes the ability to respond emotionally in a way that reflects or fits what that person is experiencing. Researchers distinguish between cognitive empathy, which involves recognizing and understanding another person’s mental state, and affective empathy, which refers to emotionally responding to another person’s feelings.
Autism has traditionally been associated with difficulties in empathy, especially in understanding other people’s emotions, intentions, and social signals. More recent work, however, has challenged the idea that such difficulties can be explained solely by deficits within autistic individuals. One influential view is the double empathy problem hypothesis. This hypothesis proposes that misunderstandings between autistic and non-autistic people are reciprocal rather than one-sided.
According to this view, autistic people find it difficult to understand non-autistic people, while non-autistic people likewise struggle to understand autistic people because the two groups tend to differ in how they experience and communicate about the world. Research has increasingly found that autistic people tend to report easier communication, stronger connection, and greater comfort when interacting with other autistic people. Likewise, non-autistic people can have more difficulty accurately interpreting the emotions and mental states of autistic individuals than those of other non-autistic people.
Study author Yonat Rum and colleagues conducted a study in which they tested the double empathy problem hypothesis. More specifically, they explored whether autistic and non-autistic individuals differ in their ability to empathize with autistic and non-autistic social targets. These authors hypothesized that non-autistic participants would better empathize with non-autistic social targets, while autistic participants would better empathize with autistic social targets. Empathizing, in this context, meant understanding another person’s feelings accurately.
Study participants were 235 individuals recruited through the Cambridge Autism Research Database (CARD) and word of mouth. 141 of them were autistic. 125 were female. 74% were from English-speaking countries, most often from the UK. Autistic participants’ average age was 48 years, while it was 51 for non-autistic participants.
Study authors prepared an empathic accuracy task that consisted of videos of 5 autistic and 5 non-autistic adults telling autobiographical stories. These individuals reported how they felt while telling the story using a slider on a scale ranging from negative to positive (affective valence). They were continuously adjusting this slider while telling the story. The slider’s position was recorded every 0.5 seconds. After completing the story, these 10 storytellers rated the degree to which they felt 12 emotions (embarrassment, anger, sadness, happiness, disgust, pride, fear, excitement, contentment, stress, calmness, and alertness) on a scale from 0 to 8.
In the course of the study, each participant watched 2 of these videos (randomly selected), one with an autistic storyteller and one with a non-autistic storyteller. They were not told the diagnosis of the storytellers. Participants provided the same ratings as the storytellers, and study authors assessed participants’ empathic accuracy by calculating how much participants’ ratings of a storyteller’s emotional state agreed with the storyteller’s own ratings. Aside from this, participants rated their own feeling of empathy and interest toward the storyteller.
Results showed that participants were somewhat accurate in determining whether a storyteller’s feelings were positive or negative. However, there were no main differences between autistic and non-autistic individuals in the overall accuracy of estimating the specific emotions of the storytellers in the videos. However, when tracking moment-to-moment emotional valence using the continuous slider, autistic individuals were significantly more accurate at tracking the emotions of autistic storytellers compared to non-autistic participants. This small-to-medium advantage suggests an own-group advantage for autistic individuals.
The two groups of participants were equally accurate when assessing non-autistic storytellers. Interestingly, non-autistic individuals rated their own empathy and interest in the storyteller as higher. Additionally, when providing free-text comments, autistic participants frequently described difficulties in identifying emotions and reflected on their own performance, whereas non-autistic participants mostly provided feedback on the task design. This led the researchers to suggest that autistic individuals may underestimate their own empathic abilities.
“Findings suggest partial support for the double empathy problem theory and potential underestimation of autistic participants of their own empathic abilities. Individual variability patterns caution against treating neurotypes as homogeneous categories that alone determine double empathy processes,” study authors concluded.
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of autism. However, it should be noted that study participants rated pre-recorded videos, which is substantively different from assessing emotions during real-life social encounters. Authors also note that autistic participants in their study were volunteers i.e., self-selected, and may not adequately represent the full autism spectrum. The study sample likely did not include autistic individuals requiring greater support to engage in social interactions.
The paper, “Nuances of double empathy in autistic and non-autistic people: examination using the empathic accuracy paradigm,” was authored by Yonat Rum, Noa Feldman, Shir Genzer, Carrie Allison, Ofer Golan, Anat Perry, and Simon Baron-Cohen.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AutismEmpathy #DoubleEmpathy #EmpathicAccuracy #AutisticStrengths #EmotionReading #AutismResearch #Neurodiversity #MentalHealthAwareness #SocialCognition #MolecularAutism
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DATE: September 9, 2026 at 04:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Analyzing infant cries to detect autism shows potential, but definitive evidence is still lacking
A systematic review integrating the findings of studies looking to identify autistic infants by analyzing the way they cry found several consistent acoustic patterns, but a pooled meta-analysis did not find statistically significant evidence for differences in pitch. There were indications from individual studies that the fundamental frequency (the basic pitch of the voice) of autistic infants’ cries might be higher, but this finding was not supported when all studies were combined in the meta-analysis. The paper was published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects how people communicate, interact with others, behave, and process sensory information. Its signs can sometimes appear very early in infancy, yet many children are only diagnosed in later preschool years (or even later). This delay matters because earlier identification can give children and families faster access to support during periods of rapid brain development.
Current diagnosis relies largely on developmental observation, clinical assessment, and standardized diagnostic tools, all of which require trained professionals and can be difficult to access in some communities. Researchers are therefore exploring new ways to detect autism-related differences earlier and more objectively. Promising approaches include eye tracking, brain imaging, electroencephalography, video analysis, and other physiological or behavioral signals.
One particularly intriguing possibility is the analysis of infant crying. This approach looks into acoustic characteristics of an infant’s cry. Studies have reported that infants later diagnosed as autistic may differ in features of their cries, including pitch, duration, and variability. Because crying is universal, non-invasive, and easy to record, it could become a useful source of early biomarkers that complement existing autism screening methods.
Study author Sandra Pusil and her colleagues analyzed the results of studies that tried to use the analysis of infant crying to detect autistic infants. They note that these studies generally follow one of two approaches. One approach is to retrospectively compare acoustic features of cries of infants known to be autistic and those that are known to not be autistic. Studies following the other, prospective, approach follow infants who are considered to have an elevated likelihood of being autistic and compare them to infants with a decreased likelihood of being autistic. They then analyze their cries and follow them longitudinally examining which of them actually get diagnosed with autism later.
These authors conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis of existing evidence. They conducted a comprehensive search of scientific publication databases that cover key biomedical, psychological, and multidisciplinary research areas, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and PsycINFO. They used keywords and subject headings related to cry analysis and autism in their search.
To be included in this review, studies had to focus on cry analyses, be conducted on children under 60 months of age, and either follow a uniform diagnostic protocol (for diagnosing autism), have diagnosis made by a specialist in neurology, psychiatry, or pediatrics, or be based on extensive, rigorous and detailed neuropsychological evaluation. The studies also needed to be reported in full text and available in English.
After searching the databases and removing duplicates, the records were screened. After excluding studies that did not contain what the authors were looking for, or that lacked the required data, they ended up with a total of 11 studies that were included in the systematic review.
Study authors rated 4 of these studies as being of good quality, while 7 were rated as fair. They included a total of 736 participants. The studies analyzed cry features of children ranging from neonates to 4 years of age. 5 of these studies followed the retrospective approach, while 6 followed the prospective approach. 6 of these studies were included in the meta-analysis, while the other 5 were excluded because they did not report the required data.
Multiple studies employed machine learning models to distinguish between the cries of autistic and non-autistic infants, consistently outperforming traditional statistical methods and often reporting accuracies exceeding 90%. Overall, some of the individual studies reported differences between autistic and non-autistic infants in the fundamental frequency of their cries, in the frequency of unusually high-pitched and intense cries (hyperphonation), voice quality irregularities, and other differences.
The most often reported difference was in the fundamental frequency of cries with multiple studies reporting higher pitched cries in autistic infants. However, when all studies were considered together, the difference between autistic and non-autistic infants in cry pitch (i.e., the fundamental frequency of cries) was not statistically significant (not sufficiently large to allow researchers to be sufficiently certain that it is not just caused by random variations).
“Cry analysis offers an objective, accessible, and non-invasive screening tool with the potential to support health assessments and developmental outcome prediction in early infancy. To realize this potential, future research must focus on large-scale, multicentric, longitudinal studies encompassing diverse populations. These efforts should aim to refine ML [machine learning] models, establish standardized datasets, and delineate developmental trajectories of acoustic markers,” study authors concluded.
The study contributes to the development of screening techniques for the early diagnosis of autism. However, it should be noted that most of the studies included in this review had very small sample sizes, requiring any effects to be quite substantial to be detected through statistical procedures used. Additionally, the studies differed very much in the age of participants, autism characteristics, and ways infants’ crying was elicited, further complicating the comparison of their results.
The paper, “Early Identification of Autism Using Cry Analysis: A Systematic Review and Meta‑analysis of Retrospective and Prospective Studies,” was authored by Sandra Pusil, Ana Laguna, Brenda Chino, Jonathan Adrián Zegarra, and Silvia Orlandi.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AutismEarlyDetection #CryAnalysis #InfantCryStudy #AutismBiomarkers #PediatricScreening #MachineLearningInHealthcare #EarlyIntervention #SpeechSignalProcessing #Neurodevelopment #AutismResearch
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DATE: August 27, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: Largest ever ‘map’ of autism may hold clues for new targeted therapies
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/27/health/autism-treatment-new-map-study
Scientists are getting a step closer to understanding exactly how autism develops in the brain – and what might work to treat it.
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/27/health/autism-treatment-new-map-study
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AutismResearch #AutismTherapies #BrainScience #Neuroscience #AutismMap #TargetedTherapies #Neurodevelopment #AutismAwareness #ScientificBreakthrough #MedicalResearch
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DATE: September 7, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Autistic language abilities are vastly more complex than “verbal” or “nonverbal,” large study shows
A recent study has identified detailed new categories for how autistic individuals understand and use language, suggesting that evaluating these two skills separately offers a more accurate picture of their abilities. The research, published in npj Science of Learning, provides evidence that the traditional three-part system for classifying language in autism misses important individual differences.
The research, led by Katrine Gankin of George Washington University and Andrey Vyshedskiy of Boston University, sought to address how language skills are evaluated in autistic children and young adults. Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, is a neurodevelopmental condition often characterized by differences in social communication. In clinical settings, professionals typically group the language abilities of autistic individuals into three broad categories: speaking individuals without structural language impairment, speaking individuals with structural language impairment, and minimally speaking individuals.
“Traditional classifications of language profiles in autism distinguish three groups: verbal, nonverbal, and minimally verbal,” Andrey Vyshedskiy, an adjunct professor at Boston University and co-author of the study, told PsyPost. “This tripartite framework is bad for children, for parents, and for therapists, because this classification stands in a way of full language acquisition.”
This one-dimensional system might oversimplify communication patterns. A 2026 study of young autistic children indicated that simple labels like “speaking” or “non-speaking” overlook the true complexity of communication, as different language skills often develop independently. For example, a 2026 analysis of autistic children found that those who speak very little still show wide differences in how well they understand words.
This variation fits into a broader context of language development trajectories in autism. A study covered by PsyPost in 2026 found that while autistic children initially acquire language comprehension skills at rates comparable to neurotypical peers, their learning rate begins to slow down exponentially starting around age two. Because of this high variability in language progression, the researchers suspected that independently measuring what a child understands, known as receptive language, and what a child can say, known as expressive language, would create a more precise classification system.
To investigate this, the research team analyzed data from 62,414 autistic individuals aged 4 to 22 years, gathered through a free, language-focused mobile application. Caregivers completed standardized surveys assessing their child’s abilities, answering 15 items regarding language comprehension and 11 items regarding expressive language. The questions covered a range of skills, from recognizing a name or responding to the word “no” to holding multi-sentence conversations and understanding complex spatial prepositions.
The researchers then used data-driven statistical methods, including unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis. These techniques automatically group items and individuals based on similar patterns in the data, without relying on predefined clinical assumptions. This allowed the team to see naturally occurring language profiles within the massive dataset.
The analysis identified three distinct profiles, or phenotypes, for language comprehension. The first was the command phenotype, which characterized 35.6 percent of the participants. Individuals in this group were primarily limited to understanding single words and simple commands. The second was the modifier phenotype, representing 47 percent of the sample. These individuals could understand basic commands as well as integrate nouns with adjectives, such as recognizing differences in color, size, and number.
The third comprehension group was the syntactic phenotype, which made up 17.4 percent of the sample. Participants in this group demonstrated understanding of the previous levels alongside complex grammatical structures, including verb tenses, possessive pronouns, and elaborate stories. These findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2025. That study, which examined language comprehension in speaking children across various developmental conditions rather than a large cohort specifically of autistic individuals across all expressive levels, similarly identified three distinct receptive language phenotypes.
When the researchers looked at expressive language independently, they found four distinct speaking phenotypes. The nonspeaking phenotype described 28.4 percent of participants, who did not show functional spoken language. The single-word phenotype, representing 34.4 percent, characterized those who primarily communicated using isolated words. The single-sentence phenotype made up 24.1 percent of the sample, describing individuals who could use basic, short sentences. The final group, the multi-sentence phenotype, applied to 13.2 percent of participants who could carry on conversations and ask meaningful questions.
By combining both dimensions, the researchers discovered four primary receptive-expressive phenotypes. The highest functioning group, demonstrating multi-sentence expression and syntactic comprehension, made up 9.7 percent of the participants. Another 25.4 percent fell into a group characterized by single-sentence expression and modifier comprehension. A third group, making up 30.5 percent of the sample, exhibited a nonspeaking profile alongside command-level comprehension. The fourth group, comprising 22.3 percent, showed single-word expression combined with modifier-level comprehension.
“The study suggests that language profiles in autism are better described on two separate axes — receptive comprehension and expressive language — than by the usual three broad categories,” Gianluca Esposito, a researcher at the University of Trento’s Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science and University College London’s Institute of Education who was not involved in the study, told PsyPost.
Esposito noted that the work extends rather than overturns prior research. “It supports evidence that receptive and expressive language can diverge, and that language heterogeneity in autism is greater than broad labels suggest,” he said. “In this large sample, three receptive and four expressive profiles emerged; combining them distinguishes profiles that conventional classifications tend to merge.”
“Adopting a two-dimensional framework that separately evaluates language comprehension and expressive language offers greater precision than the conventional tripartite system,” Vyshedskiy explained. “This approach better captures individual variability and can guide more targeted language interventions addressing specific strengths and deficits in each domain.”
This new two-dimensional framework highlights the limitations of the traditional three-part system used in clinical settings. In the older model, the single-word expression group and the completely nonspeaking group were lumped together into a single “minimally speaking” category. The new data indicates that these two groups actually have very different language profiles, particularly in their ability to understand modifiers versus simple commands.
Future studies will need to investigate how this more detailed language phenotyping might influence the success of specialized therapies. Evaluating an autistic individual’s abilities across both understanding and speaking domains independently could help clinicians design highly personalized interventions. By targeting the exact linguistic stage a child is currently at, therapists might be able to foster better communication outcomes over time.
The stakes for these early interventions are significant. “Children are not born with fully developed brain networks for syntactic language,” Vyshedskiy said. “These networks develop through syntactic conversations and oral storytelling during an early-childhood sensitive period. When conversations and storytelling are replaced by passive video viewing, the networks underlying syntactic language may not develop adequately.”
“In some autistic children, this sensitive period appears to be shorter than in typically-developing children,” he added. “Missing opportunities for conversation and storytelling before age 4, and especially before age 3, may deprive an autistic child of the opportunity to acquire full syntactic language. Individuals without syntactic comprehension usually remain intellectually disabled and cannot live independently.”
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. The data relied entirely on caregiver evaluations rather than direct assessments by clinicians. Caregivers also reported the autism severity levels of the participants without providing supporting medical documentation. While parent reports of language skills tend to be consistent with professional assessments, they can sometimes introduce measurement noise into a study.
Esposito expressed moderate confidence in the results, pointing out that while the exceptionally large sample is a major strength, the observational nature of the data requires caution. “The main limitation is that these are observational, app-based, caregiver-reported data: the profiles have not yet been independently validated against standardized clinical assessments, and the paper does not report formal estimates of clustering confidence or sensitivity analyses,” he explained.
“These profiles are not new diagnoses, nor do they show that a particular intervention improves outcomes,” Esposito cautioned. “They describe associations and patterns in the data, not causes or inevitable developmental trajectories. A child should not be clinically classified from an app questionnaire alone: diagnostic and language assessment still require direct, contextualized professional evaluation.”
The wording of some items in the standardized questionnaires also left room for ambiguity. For example, a survey item asking if a child can use four or more words in a sentence does not differentiate between a simple string of nouns and a complex grammatical structure. The researchers noted this is a common issue with standardized parent-report measures.
The sample composition also presents a potential participation bias. The data came from a language therapy app downloaded voluntarily, meaning the caregivers involved might be more proactive, educated, or digitally literate than the general population. The sample lacked data on whether participants lived in bilingual households or what their socioeconomic status was. As Esposito pointed out, “diagnostic practices, access to services, translations, and interpretation of survey questions may also differ across countries and cultures.”
“Thus, multilingual app data greatly increase the study’s potential relevance, but they require explicit testing of measurement equivalence across languages and clinical confirmation of diagnoses,” Esposito said. The most important next step, he noted, would be “a prospective, multicenter study in which these profiles are assigned both through the app and through standardized clinician-administered assessments across languages.”
Such a study should test “whether the clusters replicate, whether the measures work equivalently across linguistic and cultural groups, whether profiles remain stable over time, and whether using this two-dimensional profile actually improves therapy decisions and communication outcomes,” he added.
Given the critical window for language development, parents should not wait for formal schooling to begin addressing these skills. “Some parents think that children can acquire syntactic language later at school,” Vyshedskiy noted. “That is not true. For most children, acquiring syntactic comprehension depends on syntactic conversations during early childhood.”
To help caregivers monitor this development, Vyshedskiy outlined a series of milestones that can be tested with everyday objects. Using simple items like plush animals, a cup, and a pencil, parents can observe how well their child grasps increasingly complex instructions.
“By age 2, the great majority of children can follow instructions such as ‘give the cup to the monkey’ and ‘give the pencil to the dog,'” he explained. “By 2.5 years, most children can easily identify ‘a green pencil,’ ‘a red Lego,’ and ‘a blue straw’ from a set of objects of different colors.”
These early steps lay the foundation for understanding even more complex descriptions shortly after.
“By 3 years, most children can combine size adjectives with nouns,” Vyshedskiy continued. “By 3.5 years, most children can combine size and color adjectives with nouns. If your child has missed any of these fundamental developmental milestones, eliminate passive video watching, read simple fairy tales to your child, and seek professional language therapy.”
For caregivers and readers seeking more resources, Vyshedskiy explores these topics further in two published guides.
“For parents interested in language acquisition, see This Way to Language: Four Things to Do at the First Sign of Autism,” he added. “For readers interested in the neuroscience and evolution of language, see The Evolution of Language: How the Brain Evolved Syntactic Language from Early Mammals to Homo sapiens.”
The study, “Receptive and expressive language phenotyping in over 62,000 autistic individuals,” was authored by Katrine Gankin, Rohan Venkatesh, Edward Khokhlovich, and Andrey Vyshedskiy.
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Scientists map key protein interactions linked with profound autism, Pien Huang reports. Find this article and more at canadahealthwatch.ca #AutismResearch #CdnHealth
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DATE: August 27, 2026 at 11:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Enlarged amygdala linked to a distinct social anxiety profile in autistic adults
Autism and social anxiety frequently occur together, but it has been difficult to tell whether this combination simply reflects more severe autistic traits or represents a distinct condition. Recent research published in Translational Psychiatry indicates that autistic adults with social anxiety tend to show more compliant social behaviors and possess larger amygdalas compared to those without social anxiety. The findings suggest that social anxiety in autism may constitute a unique behavioral and biological profile rather than just an overlap of symptoms.
Autistic individuals often experience social anxiety, with some estimates suggesting up to half of autistic adults face these challenges. This rate is far higher than what is seen in the general population. In everyday life, autistic people might avoid social situations because they struggle to interpret social cues or tolerate unpredictability, which can look very similar to standard social anxiety.
Because the two conditions can look so similar on the surface, “social anxiety can be missed or mischaracterized,” explained lead author Yu (Hannah) Hao, a professor of psychology at Ningbo University who conducted the research alongside Daniela Schiller at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “Existing treatments may also be less effective when they do not address autism-specific experiences, such as difficulty interpreting social situations and coping with unpredictability.”
A major focus of recent science has been mapping how the brain processes these complex social interactions. For example, a 2025 study of autistic adults mapped out how participants navigate social scenarios, establishing a way to measure behaviors related to social closeness and interpersonal power.
At the center of the brain’s social behavior network sits the amygdala, a small almond-shaped structure that helps people process emotions and detect threats. Prior work covered by PsyPost in 2023 indicated that autistic individuals tend to have an unusually sensitive threat-processing system involving the amygdala when looking at faces.
Tracking this brain region over time has provided more clues about its role in social development. A 2021 study of adolescents tracked amygdala development and noted that changes in the size of specific amygdala regions are linked to the core social and communication challenges seen in autism.
These findings laid the groundwork for testing how brain structure and social behavior interact. Hao and the research team wanted to find out if autistic adults with social anxiety display a distinct set of social behaviors and brain features. By answering this question, they hoped to provide evidence that social anxiety in autism is a specific subtype that requires tailored diagnostic tools and treatments.
The research involved two complementary studies to examine both behavior and brain structure. The first study took place online and focused on behavioral differences. The research team recruited 575 young adults diagnosed with autism and a comparison group of 357 non-autistic adults. Within the autistic group, 145 participants reported having a professional diagnosis of social anxiety disorder.
Participants completed a naturalistic role-playing game designed to simulate everyday social decisions. As players navigated a storyline about joining a new school or exploring a new town, they interacted with virtual characters. The researchers measured two main dimensions of social behavior: affiliation, which involves seeking social closeness, and power, which involves taking control or asserting dominance in an interaction.
The results of this first study pointed to a specific behavioral pattern. Autistic adults with social anxiety were less likely to assert power in social situations compared to autistic adults without social anxiety. Instead, they tended to be more acquiescent, meaning they were more prone to yield control and comply with the requests of others.
“Acquiescent behavior should not be interpreted as an inherent weakness in autistic people; it may be an adaptive response to confusing interactions, previous negative experiences, or a desire to avoid conflict,” Hao told PsyPost. “The goal should not simply be to make autistic individuals more dominant, but to help them recognize manipulation, establish boundaries, and feel safer and more in control.”
This compliant pattern was unique to the autistic participants. Non-autistic individuals with social anxiety did not show the same tendency to surrender social power. The researchers also checked whether other common mental health conditions, like depression or generalized anxiety disorder, could explain the results. The tendency to yield power was linked exclusively to social anxiety, pointing to a distinct behavioral profile.
In the second study, the researchers brought participants into the laboratory to look for biological markers that might match these behavioral differences. This phase included 72 autistic adults and 72 non-autistic adults who underwent magnetic resonance imaging brain scans. Among the autistic participants, 15 had a co-occurring diagnosis of social anxiety.
The brain scans provided evidence that social anxiety in autism is associated with structural changes in the brain. Autistic participants with social anxiety possessed larger amygdala volumes than both the autistic participants without social anxiety and the non-autistic control group. The brain sizes of autistic adults without social anxiety did not differ from those of the non-autistic adults.
Just as in the behavioral study, this enlarged amygdala volume was specifically associated with social anxiety. The researchers did not find similar brain differences in autistic participants who had depression or generalized anxiety. In fact, these findings suggest that combining autism and social anxiety creates a unique biological signature that is not found when looking at autism alone.
When the researchers combined the data from the behavioral task and the brain scans, they found a connection between the two. Autistic individuals with larger amygdalas tended to display more acquiescent, lower-power behaviors during the role-playing game. This suggests that the physical structure of the amygdala and the tendency to yield control in social situations are closely linked features of social anxiety in autism.
Interestingly, participants who yielded power did not report feeling a lack of power. “One striking finding was that behavioral differences emerged during the social task even though participants’ own perceptions of their relationships during the task did not differ according to social anxiety,” Hao said. “In other words, autistic adults with social anxiety behaved more acquiescently without necessarily perceiving the interaction differently.”
As with all research, there are some caveats. The study design makes it impossible to definitively know how these brain and behavioral differences develop over time. Because the research measured participants at a single point in their lives, it is not known whether yielding social power leads to social anxiety, or if social anxiety causes individuals to avoid asserting dominance.
“The brain findings reflect group-level associations and should not be interpreted as a diagnostic marker for any individual,” Hao cautioned. The neuroimaging sample sizes were also relatively small, and the participants generally had high levels of education and intelligence test scores, which means the results might not apply to all autistic individuals.
“We also want to understand how experiences involving social ambiguity, unequal power, or interpersonal victimization contribute to social anxiety over time,” Hao said. Future research tracking people over several years could help clarify how the amygdala changes as these dynamics unfold.
“Ultimately, this work could inform autism-specific interventions that strengthen boundary-setting, assertive communication, and confidence in navigating social situations,” the researcher concluded. “It is equally important to create social environments that are more predictable, inclusive, and responsive to autistic people’s needs.”
The study, “Autism with social anxiety is associated with acquiescent behaviors and enlarged amygdala volume,” was authored by Yu Hao, Sarah M. Banker, Matthew Schafer, Ember Zhang, Sarah Barkley, Jadyn Trayvick, Arabella W. Peters, Abigaël A. Thinakaran, Christopher McLaughlin, Xiaosi Gu, Jennifer H. Foss-Feig, and Daniela Schiller.
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DATE: August 23, 2026 at 04:04AM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: A Split in the Spectrum? The Ongoing Battle to Define Autism
Source: Google News - Health
If someone asked you to think of an autistic person, who would come to mind? The world's richest man, Elon Musk? Maybe Greta Thunberg, who says being different can be a superpower? In recent years there has been a rise in the number of people with an autism diagnosis, and the National Autistic Society says there remains "a significant underdiagnosis of autism, particularly among women and older people." Yet experts vary in how they define the...
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I’m autistic. Here’s what happened to us this week.
Federal officials are closing the comment window on a 336-page autism research plan. It could steer priorities at NIH, CDC, and beyond for the next two years. Advocates had to push for more time just to read it.
Meanwhile, prescriptions for leucovorin rose 46% after White House autism claims. But the largest supporting trial was retracted earlier this year.
And in North Carolina, new Medicaid rules for autism therapy are already raising access questions for families and providers.
This isn’t abstract policy. It shapes what gets studied, prescribed, funded, restricted... and who gets heard.
What story in this week’s briefing hits closest to home for you?
#ActuallyAutistic #DisabilityRights #Neurodivergent #MentalHealth #AutismResearch
https://johnnyprofaneknapp.substack.com/p/divergent-times-august-1319-2026
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Rapamycin Treatment Reveals Mechanisms of Dysfunction in Maternal Inflammation Model
📰 Original title: A single dose reversed autism-like symptoms in adult mice within hours
🤖 IA: It's clickbait ⚠️
👥 Users: It's clickbait ⚠️ -
"Autistic people aren’t afraid of genetic research – they are afraid of what scientists might do with it"
Thank you @rmblaber1956 for sharing this excellent article.
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🗞️ JUST PUBLISHED: IHI's June newsletter!
👉 https://lnkd.in/eJE7Ej6X
⚡ The topic texts of call 13 are approved!
📺 #IHICallDays - 3 to go!
📆 IHI Forum: 20-21 Oct save the date
🧬ARDAT is tackling regulatory science for #ATMPs
🧩 @aims2trials.bsky.social release data ethically for #AutismResearch
#HorizonEU -
In research, education, & policy making, autistic people are expected to accept a situation where non-autistic "experts" speak with authority about them.
An autistic person's lived experience is seen as less valid than external observations of our behaviour.
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Tylenol in pregnancy not linked with autism, Danish study finds.
Read Full Article
#PregnancyHealth #AutismResearch #TylenolSafety https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/tylenol-pregnancy-not-linked-with-autism-danish-study-finds-2026-04-13/
Reenviado desde Science News
(https://t.me/experienciainterdimensional/10673) -
I also talked about monotropism; the distinctive depth and narrowness of autistic attention.
The tendency to go very deep, to struggle with switching, to get overwhelmed by competing demands - and to experience the world with such a particular intensity.
Again: not just ‘life is hard’, but a very specific way of processing and experiencing.
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"Why we need to reframe autism"
⬇️
I've just been guest on the podcast that hosted the autism researcher Uta Frith. I did a thread about it: https://mas.to/@KatyElphinstone/116206483353899881
Here's my episode:
On substack (but I think anyone can listen to it):
https://neurosense.substack.com/p/why-we-need-to-reframe-autism-with
On Apple podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lets-talk-neurosense-the-psychology-of-neurodiversity/id1883007944
On Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/19fSshl0XkXqiKPCp3uyzO?si=gDBCV9koQHKqvEMHqrZJnw&t=2249Pass it on if you like it!
Comments can be made on the Substack version, & very welcome ☺️
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"The new Independent Autism Coordinating Committee will bring together accomplished scientific experts and stakeholders with research expertise, with the goal of accelerating scientific discovery, improving care, and positively impacting the lives of people with autism. ...The I-ACC will... serve as a credible source for anyone trying to understand the science of autism. "
Read here: https://autismsciencefoundation.org/press_releases/i-acc-announcement/
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Then, as we’re not listened to, society's understanding of autism develops without us.🤷🏽♀️
That flawed understanding is then used to overrule us, again.
Strange little loop. ➰
6/11
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GABA/glutamate imbalance is a core feature of Autism. A new review describes how reduced GABA signaling may lead to excessive excitation in key brain circuits. 🧠✨🔍
Read Full Article
#GABA #Glutamate #AutismResearch #Neuroscience #MentalHealth https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1587432/full
Reenviado desde Science News
(https://t.me/experienciainterdimensional/9489) -
FDA Takes Action to Make a Treatment Available for Autism Symptoms
#HackerNews #FDA #Autism #Treatment #Action #AutismResearch #HealthNews #MedicalBreakthroughs
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🚨 President Trump to announce findings linking Tylenol use during pregnancy to autism. The administration claims breakthroughs on root causes of autism, stirring debate with health experts. Stay informed on this developing story. 🧠👶 #AutismResearch #Tylenol #HealthNews https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-autism-pregancy-tylenol-kennedy-b2831108.html
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Can anyone recommend any book(s) on #AuDHD? Looking for something that's not just a basic 'what's AuDHD?' but rather more about how #autism and #ADHD / #ADD interact, as well as how to cope. Bonus points if it also takes into account gender differences in presentation of both / either issues.
Articles / research projects also of interest, of course, if you're aware of any. -
When #ideology overwrites the #Evidence and politicians try to enforce new research that produces the results that they like instead of searching for the #truth. #Autism #autismresearch
https://www.propublica.org/article/rfk-jr-autism-environment-research-funding
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If you, like me, are #autistic, then you might be immune to the effects of false or otherwise insidious advertising techniques
According to the article, #neurotypical people are more likely to get distracted by marketing techniques, while us autistics focus on the practical side of a product, rendering those techniques pointless.
#AutismResearch #Autism #News #Psychology #Neurospicy #Neurodiverse