The gastrointestinal, or gut, microbiome is another area of interest to researchers looking for factors that contribute to autism. These variants may play a role in how the brain neurons connect and also help turn other genes on or off - a possible factor that may contribute to autism. The gene variants the scientists identified mainly reside in the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for complex behaviors. The researchers also discovered that 53 of the genes identified were mostly associated with autism and not other developmental conditions.Įxpanding the research further, the team found that autistic people who carried the ASD-specific gene variants showed increased intellectual function compared with autistic individuals who did not have the variants. The scientists identified variants in 102 genes linked with an increased probability of developing ASD. Other avenues of research on autism include investigations into gene variants that could play a role in the development of ASD.Ī recent study analyzed the DNA of more than 35,584 people worldwide, including 11,986 autistic individuals. This research appears in the journal Epidemiology. Researchers also found that exposure to another type of air pollution called particulate matter during an infant’s first year also increased the likelihood of the infant later receiving a diagnosis of ASD. The latest found an association between ASD and a mother’s exposure to ozone pollution during the third trimester of pregnancy. This ongoing research has already produced several published studies. One of the goals of the study is discovering what health conditions occur in autistic and neurotypical children and what factors are associated with the likelihood of developing ASD.Īnother objective of the study is to differentiate the physical and behavioral characteristics of autistic children, children with other developmental conditions, and those without these conditions. These sites are part of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology network and focus on children aged 2–5 years. The Study to Explore Early Development is a collaboration between six study sites in the United States. A multiyear study funded by the CDC is underway to learn more about factors potentially linked to autism.
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