Pondering Autism with Matthew State

Approximately one in every fifty children is affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and will require extra help from parents, teachers, and health professionals to reach their full potential.  Professor Matthew State, a psychiatrist and geneticist at the University of California San Francisco has made major contributions to the current understanding of the factors that determine whether or not a child will have an ASD. Here he talks about  the neurobiology of autism with a focus on research showing that genetics plays a major role in most instances of autism with gene mutations apparently occurring de novo in the genomes of the mother’s egg or the father’s sperm. These genetic aberrancies result in accelerated growth of brain cells and formation of synapses during brain development resulting in alterations in the activities of neuronal networks in brain regions involved in regulating social interactions and communication.  As the research on ASD progresses new approaches for treatment are emerging. 

Links:

Professor State’s UCSF webpage: https://profiles.ucsf.edu/matthew.state

Lecture by Professor State: https://profiles.ucsf.edu/matthew.state

 Review articles on autism:

file:///Users/markmattson/Downloads/s41583-022-00576-7%20(2).pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8163016/pdf/nihms-1704166.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6779523/pdf/nihms-1537205.pdf