From the Spectrum: Finding Superpowers with Autism

Episodios del podcast

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  Autism and the Salience Network, and topics to prepare for a future episode about Sex-and-Diagnosis Differences and the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc)

  Autism and the Salience Network, and topics to prepare for a future episode about Sex-and-Diagnosis Differences and the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc)

  E14

  31:06

  We expand on a critical network discussed in the Autism and Adaptive Responses episode. The biology that gives us Autism, gives us a condition the outside world is chaotic. The trade off is our inner world is comfortable. See criteria B.3. The Salience Network is used to determine what we send our attention to as we orient ourselves with the outside world. You can see this in Autism versus Non-Autism. Autistics orient to single objects or single interests more than multiple objects or interests. That's Criteria B of Autism- Restricted, Repetitive Interests, Behaviors, or Activities. In Autism, the Salience Network connects to different regions compared to Non-Autism, and this is shown at Six-Weeks-Old. And, this implicates our Social Attention and Social Motivation. Remember Hans Aspergers called the children "little professors" because Autism provides a path of Superpowers based on those fixated interests that are "abnormal in intensity or focus." Covered Here. Also, we prepare for another discussion with a leading scientist from UCLA. Study on Six-Week-Old https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-024-06016-9 GENDAAR https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34050743/ (0:00) Intro; Human's Capacity to Think; the Salience Network and the NAc (2:56) Insula (4:47) Defining the Salience Network and Salience Detection; getting "hijacked" and metabolic bank account (7:42) the Biology that gives us Autism causes a Chaotic outside world (9:00) Returning to Six-week-olds and the Salience Network (10:28) The Prefrontal Cortex and Human Cortex quiets things so we can properly evaluate things (13:52) Salience Connections of six-week-olds; social attention at 3-12 months; Autistic traits at 12 months (17:40) Sex-and-Diagnosis Differences; GENDAAR study using 8-17 year olds; Salience Network and Sensorimotor and Repetitive Behaviors (20:47) Second Key Finding and possible cause of Boys Bias with Autism (21:30) The Nucleus Accumbens- Reward Hub; Two Parts; shell and core (25:20) Preparing for a future episode (30:27) Reviews/Ratings and Contact Info Facebook https://www.facebook.com/fromthespectrum.podcast Email: info.fromthespectrum@gmail.com

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  The Roles of Oxytocin and Vasopressin in the Autistic Phenotype

  The Roles of Oxytocin and Vasopressin in the Autistic Phenotype

  E13

  39:16

  In this episode, we explore Oxytocin and Vasopressin's vast roles in Human Biology. We time travel to cover the evolution of the two molecules and learn about their functions with developing and socializing. Oxytocin and Vasopressin are dynamic molecules whereby they are Peptides and Hormones. In addition, we cover previously discussed brain regions and how the molecules work alongside key Neuromodulators like Serotonin and Dopamine. Social Reward https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6214365/ Social Reward Requires Oxytocin and Serotonin in Nucleus Accumbens (Parvo Path) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4091761/ Magnocellular and Parvocellular social Information Processing https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(20)30770-4?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0896627320307704%3Fshowall%3Dtrue Magnocellular and Parvocellular https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jne.12284 Meta-Analysis of Intranasal https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=intranasal+oxytocin+autism&sort=pubdate&filter=pubt.meta-analysis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33400920/ Intranasal Review https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38579916/ (0:00) Intro; Oxytocin and Vasopressin; Episode Objectives (2:46) Oxytocin and Vasopressin; 700 million year time travel (Phylogeny) (4:12) Peptides and Hormones; Modes of Transmission- Endocrine, Paracrine, Synaptic (6:35) Proteins and Peptides; Amino Acids and Aromatic Amino Acids and Light (8:58) Magnocellular and Parvocellular (12:33) Roles of Oxytocin and Vasopressin and connections to various Brain Regions (22:20) Scientific Literatures (27:12) Oxytocin and Serotonin; 1) Reward Processing, 2) Fear Response, 3) Social-Emotional Processing (30:07) Oxytocin and Dopamine (31:08) Dopamine Receptors (31:37) GABA (33:57) Intranasal Oxytocin (36:08) Take aways from Intranasal Literature (37:24) Biggest Take Away (Magnocellular versus Parvocellular and Intranasal Administration) email: info.fromthespectrum@gmail.com

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  Dr. Catherine Lord: The Evolution of Autism Assessment, Challenges with Understanding the Spectrum of Autism, and Barriers in the Medical and Education Systems for Autism

  Dr. Catherine Lord: The Evolution of Autism Assessment, Challenges with Understanding the Spectrum of Autism, and Barriers in the Medical and Education Systems for Autism

  E12

  51:39

  In this episode, we discuss Autism with Dr. Catherine Lord. Dr. Lord is a Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Education at UCLA and one of the foremost researchers in Autism. Dr. Lord provides tremendous insights into her roles in Autism and Autism Assessment. Dr. Lord discusses her journey into Autism, the evolution of the Assessment including the ADOS growing from her basement and being overran by demand to the Gold Standard, the Challenges with understanding the Spectrum, updates on the Lancet Commission and Profound Autism, and Barriers in the Medical and Educational Systems. Dr. Catherine Lord: https://www.semel.ucla.edu/autism/team/catherine-lord-phd https://childmind.org/bio/catherine-lord-phd/ https://labs.dgsom.ucla.edu/lord/pages/our_team The Lancet Commission https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01541-5/abstract The Lancet https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30078460/ Nature Reviews Disease Primers https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31949163/ Autism and Education https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-the-spectrum-finding-superpowers-with-autism/id1737499562?i=1000656055638 https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d948fecc-8cfa-4203-8493-a12d2c9c92ed/episodes/bf7ce843-0dd2-4fe8-b800-82ea9cace96d/from-the-spectrum-finding-superpowers-with-autism-autism-and-education The mention of a recent article on Predicting Profound Autism and Cell Biology and me shying away from saying "Organoids" in real-time https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11127428/ (0:00) Intro (3:22) Dr. Lord's journey into Autism and Recognizing a Spectrum (11:25) The Evolution of Autism Assessment and Discussion on the ADI and ADOS- from making the ADOS in her Basement and being Overran by Demand to the Gold Standard; Revisions of Assessment Instruments (16:36) Gaps in the Autism Assessment (23:15) The Challenges with Understanding the Spectrum of Autism (29:32) Updates on the Lancet Commission and Profound Autism (35:19) Barriers with Autism and the Medical Field (39:29) Barriers with Autism and Education- Four Strikes against the Autistic Phenotype: Sensory-Processing, Speech and Language, Social Communication/Interaction, and Subject Switching (understand B3: Fixated Interests) (44:25) The Future of Autism and Helping Autistics Across the Life Span (51:03) Reviews/Ratings and Contact Info email: info.fromthespectrum@gmail.com

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  Autism and Adaptive Responses, and exploring the mPFC, ACC, and Insula

  Autism and Adaptive Responses, and exploring the mPFC, ACC, and Insula

  E11

  36:33

  In this episode, we explore three regions associated with social awareness- the medial Prefrontal Cortex, the Anterior Cingulate Cortex, and the Insula. We review the functions of each, the interactions between each region, and the inputs and bi-directional connections to some crucial areas of the brain. In large part, we will review adaptive responses and cover some scientific literature on these regions and the implications to Autism. https://molecularautism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13229-024-00593-6 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9354837/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6766703/#:~:text=Schematic%20structure%20of%20different%20regions,and%20infralimbic%20cortex%20(IL). https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(12)01108-7?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0896627312011087%3Fshowall%3Dtrue https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-024-06016-9 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763409000815?via%3Dihub#aep-section-id15 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17470919.2023.2242095 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006322308011578 (0:00) Intro; mPFC, ACC, and Insula (3:26) mPFC, Excitation / Inhibition; CNTNAP2, SHANK3, Neuroligin, and PTEN (7:42) Functions of mPFC and a primary dive into Adaptive Responses; Neuromodulators (13:52) ACC (15:23) the mPFC and ACC lead the way (19:29) Scientific Studies on Theory of Mind Task and Sensory Processing (21:52) Insula (26:49) Scientific Study: Eye Gaze, Social Attention, Social Cognition, Observational Learning (30:11) Social and Nonsocial Studies- different areas for Autistics versus Non-Autistic (32:38) A study using 6-week-old Infants, attentional biases and sensorimotor and different brain areas (35:05) Wrap Up email: info.fromthespectrum@gmail.com

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  Autism and Anxiety

  Autism and Anxiety

  E10

  38:50

  In this episode, we discuss biology of anxiety, responses from anxiety, and common situations causing anxiety with Autism. The stress response system of the body is very finite and the nervous system reflexively responds based on what it knows. A few biological components of anxiety include the amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), and the spine. Common responses to anxiety include avoidance, shifts in physiology, and valance, or how we feel about the situation. To end, we have a lengthy discussion on some common sources of anxiety. Biology and Anxiety https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6690364/ Deisseroth on Anxiety https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtCeIefq_PM Deisseroth on Autism and Anxiety https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oiKOX2lCmE Physiological Sighs https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/fulltext/S2666-3791(22)00474-8 Jack Feldman https://bioscience.ucla.edu/people/jack-feldman/ David Spiegel https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/david-spiegel Joseph LeDoux https://as.nyu.edu/faculty/joseph-e-ledoux.html (0:00) Intro; Comorbid Tendency and the DSM (2:56) Anxiety's role (3:42) Biology and responses of Anxiety; Amygdala and Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis; Avoidance, Physiology, Valance (7:48) Avoidance (Action)- Hypothalamus (9:11) Brief notes on Cortex (11:36) Back to the Hypothalamus (12:27) Physiology/Breathing (Body)- Parabrachial Nucleus; Physiological Sigh; Brainstem, Spine, and Body (17:48) Valance (Feelings)- Ventral Tegmental Area; direct or indirect exposure- it doesn't matter (20:00) Dopamine, Neuroplasticity, Side note on Testosterone, Multiple words have the same meaning (24:58) Common situations for Anxiety and Autism (35:58) Wrap Up, Reviews and Ratings, Contact Info