1. Boxberger A, Chen B, Olson L, Cordova M, Mahmalji J, Rios A, Linke AC, Fishman I. Functional connectivity patterns differ as a function of co-occurring attentional problems in preschoolers with autism. J Neurodev Disord. 2025; 17(1): 63.

BACKGROUND: Symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and are associated with greater developmental challenges, poorer clinical outcomes, and alterations in functional connectivity (FC) of the brain. However, despite the consensus that ASD and other neurodevelopmental conditions emerge early in life, little is known about the trajectories of brain and behavioral development during the first years of life in children with ASD and co-occurring attention problems (AP). METHODS: In a sample of 122 young children (ages 1.5-5 years) with and without ASD, we examined whether toddlers and preschoolers with ASD and co-occurring AP already differ from peers with ASD without co-occurring AP on adaptive and developmental skills, ASD symptoms, and FC of the frontoparietal and salience networks, which have been previously linked to ADHD symptoms in older children with ASD and ADHD. RESULTS: Results of general linear model analyses revealed lower developmental and adaptive skills across multiple domains in children with ASD and elevated AP compared with their peers with lower AP, despite equivalent levels of ASD symptoms. Further, children with ASD and elevated AP showed reduced FC within the frontoparietal network (p = .027), between the frontoparietal and language networks (p = .004), and the frontoparietal and default mode networks (p = .046) in comparison to their peers with lower AP. No group differences in FC of the salience network were observed (all p > .05). CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide evidence that neurodevelopmental and behavioral differences in children with ASD and co-occurring AP emerge very early in life, before a reliable diagnosis of ADHD is typically made. Specifically, these results demonstrate that early inattention symptoms are associated with unique connectivity patterns in executive circuitry as early as the first years of life in toddlers and preschoolers with ASD, likely contributing to the phenotypic and neural heterogeneity recognized in autism. Thus, our results underscore the importance of considering co-occurring conditions early in developmental research and clinical care, as further understanding these trajectories can inform early interventions during the critical time period when they have the greatest potential for positive impact.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

2. Haid NW, Failla MD, Sturm A. Autistic women report high levels of pain, pain-related anxiety, and pain interference. Pain Rep. 2025; 10(6): e1346.

INTRODUCTION: Evidence suggests autistic adults experience pain in different ways compared with nonautistic people. Autistic adults report greater pain-related anxiety, which is associated with increased pain sensitivity, and experience high rates of generalized anxiety. It is not yet clear how generalized anxiety may be related to pain-related anxiety for autistic people. Nonautistic women generally experience more pain sensitivity and pain interference. Thus, autistic women may be at greater risk of experiencing the impact of pain-related anxiety on their daily lives. OBJECTIVES: We sought to examine the relationship between pain-related anxiety, generalized anxiety, and pain’s interference (eg, daily activities, mood) in autistic women’s lives. METHODS: The present study included N = 52 autistic adults, assigned female at birth (AFAB), who reported on their pain (Brief Pain Inventory), pain-related anxiety (Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale-20) and generalized anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item scale). RESULTS: In this sample, 65.4% of participants reported pain in the last 24 hours and high rates of pain interference overall. Autistic AFAB people reported high rates of generalized anxiety (11.75 ± 5.19) and pain-related anxiety (48.80 ± 13.54). Only the cognitive pain-related anxiety subscale was significantly correlated with generalized anxiety (r = 0.30, P < 0.05). Total pain-related anxiety was associated with pain interference (enjoyment of life, r = 0.39, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Autistic AFAB people are experiencing high rates of pain, pain interference, anxiety, and pain-related anxiety. Given the relationship between pain and anxiety reported for autistic women, therapies that specifically target pain-related anxiety may have profound impacts on autistic women's quality of life.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

3. Hanson KL, Avino T, Taylor SL, Murray KD, Schumann CM. Age-related differences in axon pruning and myelination may alter neural signaling in autism spectrum disorder. Mol Autism. 2025; 16(1): 53.

BACKGROUND: Neuronal connectivity is refined throughout development by the proliferation and pruning of axons in cerebral white matter, and progressive axon myelination that enables rapid communication across brain regions. Differences in connectivity have been observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including changes in white matter volume and connectivity. In the prefrontal cortex, this includes imbalances between short- and long-ranging axons, consistent with a pattern of local hyperconnectivity, and long-range hypoconnectivity. Alterations in temporal lobe white matter development-critical for social behavior-may contribute to atypical neural connectivity. METHODS: We used electron microscopy to analyze 54 samples of temporal lobe white matter from 27 age-matched postmortem brains from males with ASD and neurotypical (NT) controls, ages 2-44 years. Defined regions of superficial (SWM) and deep (DWM) white matter were sampled from superior temporal (STG) and fusiform (FG) gyri. Axon density and myelin thickness were quantified, with axon size classified by inner diameter, to evaluate age-related differences between ASD and neurotypical brains. RESULTS: In neurotypical control brains, total axon density significantly decreases with age in both STG and FG SWM. Although ASD cases show a similar trend, the density of small axons in STG is significantly higher than in controls. However, FG SWM in ASD shows no significant change in small-diameter axon density with age in this region. In neurotypical brains, myelin thickness of large-diameter axons increases significantly with age in STG and FG SWM. In contrast, large-diameter axons in ASD display significantly thinner myelin sheaths than controls across both STG and FG regions. CONCLUSIONS: The temporal lobe exhibits atypical patterns of white matter development in ASD. In neurotypical individuals, decreased axon density in SWM with age reflects effective neural pruning and refinement of local and short-range connectivity. In contrast, individuals with ASD maintain a high density of small-diameter axons in STG SWM, suggesting reduced pruning that results in local overconnectivity. Moreover, myelin thickness in SWM does not increase with age in ASD, implying reduced efficacy of neurotransmission. These alterations in white matter ultrastructure may contribute to the atypical connectivity and neural communication observed in ASD across the lifespan.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

4. Hoang T, Desai D. Dental Education on Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Collaboration With Occupational Therapy. J Dent Educ. 2025.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

5. Jeličić A, Drobnič Radobuljac M, Sass L, Škodlar B. Autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorder: phenomenological qualitative study of patients’ experience. Front Psychiatry. 2025; 16: 1669930.

OBJECTIVE: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) overlap in behavioral signs, particularly in social functioning; consequently, SSD patients are frequently misdiagnosed with ASD and vice versa. The neurodevelopmental and spectrum nature of both disorders, including milder variants, further complicates differential diagnosis, which calls for a better differentiation by looking at the subjective experience of patients. To our knowledge, no prior clinical studies have directly and comparatively examined the subjective experiences of individuals from these two spectra. The present study adopts a phenomenological approach traditionally applied to SSD; it reveals qualitative similarities and differences in these two spectra: in the experience of oneself, the world, and interpersonal relationships. METHODS: The study included 42 participants, aged 15 to 26, all with at least average intelligence and no acute psychiatric symptoms, as verified by the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R). We interviewed participants in depth on their experiences and applied the Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience (EASE), and selected parts of the Examination of Anomalous World-Experience (EAWE). RESULTS: Differences were observed across all five EASE domains, with higher levels in the SSD as compared to ASD in minimal self-disorder, demarcation phenomena, paranoid anxiety, short term memory disorder, and magical thinking. Meanwhile, obsessive thinking, attention problems, diminished presence in the world, social anxiety, and hyper-reflectivity overlapped in both groups. The most significant qualitative overlapping within EAWE were in abnormalities within social interactions, increased auditory perception intensity and synesthesia. Within overlaps important qualitative differences are noted and described. CONCLUSIONS: Despite considerable overlap in outer manifestations, we found important qualitative differences that point to the centrality of a disorder of ipseity in the SSD versus of primary intersubjectivity in ASD.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

6. Segura P, Pagani M, Bishop SL, Thomson P, Colcombe S, Xu T, Factor ZZ, Hector EC, Kim SH, Lombardo MV, Gozzi A, Castellanos XF, Lord C, Milham MP, Di Martino A. Connectome-based symptom mapping and in silico related gene expression in children with autism and/or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Mol Psychiatry. 2025.

Clinical, neuroimaging and genomics evidence have increasingly underscored a degree of overlap between autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study explores the specific contribution of their core symptoms to shared biology in N = 166 verbal children (6-12 years) with rigorously-established primary diagnoses of either autism or ADHD (without autism). We investigated the associations between inter-individual differences in low motion whole-brain intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) and dimensional measures of autism and ADHD symptoms indexed by clinician-based observation and parent interview, respectively. Additionally, we explored their linked gene expression patterns in silico. Whole-brain multivariate distance matrix regression revealed a transdiagnostic association between autism severity and iFC of two nodes primarily on the left hemisphere: the middle frontal gyrus of the frontoparietal network and the posterior cingulate cortex of the default mode network. Across children, the greater the iFC between these nodes, the more severe the autism symptoms, even after controlling for ADHD ratings. Results from secondary segregation analyses were consistent with primary findings, underscoring the significance of internetwork iFC for autism symptom severity across diagnoses. No statistically significant brain-behavior relationships were observed for ADHD symptoms. Genetic enrichment analyses of the iFC maps associated with autism symptoms implicated genes known to: (i) have greater rate of variance in autism and ADHD, and (ii) be involved in neuron projections, suggesting shared genetic mechanisms for this specific brain-clinical phenotype. These findings underscore the relevance of transdiagnostic dimensional approaches in linking clinically-defined and observation-based phenomena to shared presentations at the macroscale circuit- and genomic-levels across diagnoses.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

7. Shu Y, Zhang X, Huang J, Li C, Zhang Y. Multimodal MRI-based radiomics in an ASD rat model: investigating brain structural changes and the neuroprotective effects of selenium. Front Neurosci. 2025; 19: 1651220.

INTRODUCTION: This study developed and validated a multimodal MRI-based radiomics model to assess brain changes in a rat model of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) following selenium intervention. METHODS: ASD was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats via prenatal valproic acid administration, with sodium selenite used for intervention. MRI modalities included T2-weighted imaging, T1 and T2 relaxation mapping, diffusion tensor imaging, and diffusion kurtosis imaging. Radiomics features were extracted, correlated with behavioral metrics, and analyzed using clustering and radiomics scoring. Logistic regression models incorporating single-modality and multimodal radiomics features were developed and evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Subgroup analyses assessed predictive performance and correlations with behavioral and developmental indices. RESULTS: ASD model rats exhibited growth retardation, anxiety-like behavior, and deficits in social interaction and memory, which were alleviated by selenium supplementation. The multimodal radiomics model outperformed single-modality models, achieving the highest area under the ROC curve and strong predictive capability in subgroup analyses. Significant correlations were identified between multimodal radiomics scores and behavioral as well as developmental measures. DISCUSSION: The cerebellum was a key region affected in ASD, whereas the visual-auditory cortex showed notable responses to selenium treatment. In conclusion, the multimodal radiomics model demonstrates high diagnostic efficacy, highlights the cerebellum as a key region affected in ASD, and suggests the visual-auditory cortex as a primary target of selenium intervention, enhancing predictive accuracy for structural and functional brain improvements post-treatment.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

8. Spielman B, Bagnall-Moreau C, Chen F, Balvuena C, Cruz C, Carrion J, Vo A, Arazi A, Brimberg L. Captopril restores microglial homeostasis and reverses ASD-like phenotype in a model of ASD induced by exposure in utero to anti-caspr2 IgG. Mol Psychiatry. 2025.

Microglia play a crucial role in brain development, including synaptic pruning and neuronal circuit formation. Prenatal disruptions, such as exposure to maternal autoantibodies, can dysregulate microglial function and contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders like autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Maternal antibodies targeting the brain protein Caspr2, encoded by ASD risk gene Cntnap2, are found in a subset of mothers of children with ASD. In utero exposure to these antibodies in mice leads to an ASD-like phenotype in male but not in female mice, characterized by altered hippocampal microglial reactivity, reduced dendritic spine density, and impaired social behavior. Here, we studied the role of microglia in mediating the effect of in utero exposure to maternal anti-Caspr2 antibodies and whether we can ameliorate this phenotype. In this study we demonstrate that microglial reactivity emerges early in postnatal development and persists into adulthood following exposure in utero to maternal anti-Caspr2 IgG. Captopril, a blood-brain barrier permeable angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, but not enalapril (a non-BBB permeable ACE inhibitor) ameliorates these deficits. Captopril treatment reversed microglial activation, restored spine density and dendritic arborization in CA1 hippocampal pyramidal neurons, and improved social interaction. Single-cell RNA sequencing of hippocampal microglia identified a captopril-responsive subcluster exhibiting downregulated translation (eIF2 signaling) and metabolic pathways (mTOR and oxidative phosphorylation) in mice exposed in utero to anti-Caspr2 antibodies treated with saline compared to saline-treated controls. Captopril reversed these transcriptional alterations, restoring microglial homeostasis. Our findings suggest that exposure in utero to maternal anti-Caspr2 antibodies induces sustained neuronal alterations, microglial reactivity, and metabolic dysfunction, contributing to the social deficits in male offspring. BBB-permeable ACE inhibitors, such as captopril, warrant further investigation as a potential therapeutic strategy in a subset of ASD cases associated with microglial reactivity.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

9. Weiss JA, Modica PT, Gallant C, Roudbarani F, Weaver C, Bouma A, Goldsmith L, Leef J, Lunsky Y. Co-creating a Canadian autism mental health literacy resource: a qualitative analysis of advisory perspectives. Health Res Policy Syst. 2025; 23(1): 140.

BACKGROUND: Autistic adults experience disproportionately high rates of mental health challenges and encounter substantial barriers to care. While initiatives aimed at improving mental health literacy (MHL) offer one strategy for addressing these disparities, the processes through which such initiatives are co-produced with autistic adults and caregivers remain underexplored. Co-production – the collaborative development of resources or knowledge between researchers and community members – can enhance the relevance, authenticity, and impact of health initiatives. The central aim of this study was to understand how autistic adults and caregivers experienced their involvement in the co-production of an applied health research initiative. To inform future initiatives, there is a need to understand stakeholder experiences of the co-production process. METHODS: This study examined the experiences of stakeholders engaged in the co-production of a Canadian MHL resource for autistic adults and their families. Although the context of the project focused on MHL, the central aim was to understand how autistic adults and caregivers experienced their involvement in the co-production process. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 autistic adults and caregivers who served as advisors in the Autism Mental Health Literacy Project (AM-HeLP). A reflexive thematic analysis approach was used to identify key experiential themes related to their involvement. RESULTS: A thematic analysis identified four main stakeholder experience themes: (1) the elements of co-production, (2) the collaboration process, (3) insights gained and (4) emotional impact of involvement. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the critical importance of intentional, inclusive and trauma-informed co-production practices in applied health research. They offer practical guidance for researchers, service providers and policymakers seeking to authentically engage autistic adults and families in the development of health-related resources. Supporting equitable partnerships with autistic adults and caregivers is essential to advancing responsive and person-centred health policy and practice.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

10. Yeasmin S, Saha S, Khan Rony MK, Akter Semi MM, Das S, Rahman R, Khan R, Tasnim AF, Hosen A. The role of AI-driven art therapy in supporting autism, mental health, and emotional well-being: An umbrella review. Digit Health. 2025; 11: 20552076251386662.

BACKGROUND: The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into therapeutic practices has introduced new possibilities for enhancing mental health interventions. Among these innovations, AI-driven art therapy has emerged as a promising approach, combining the expressive and healing aspects of traditional art therapy with the adaptive and analytical strengths of AI. This modality shows particular potential in supporting individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), mental health challenges, and those seeking emotional well-being. AIM: This umbrella review aimed to synthesize and evaluate existing evidence on the application, effectiveness, and implementation of AI-driven art therapy in improving outcomes for individuals with ASD, mental health conditions, and emotional distress. METHODS: A comprehensive search was conducted across multiple databases-including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, IEEE Xplore, and ACM Digital Library-to identify systematic and scoping reviews that adhered to PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. The methodological quality of included reviews was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) checklist. Thematic analysis was applied to extract and synthesize recurring patterns and core themes across studies. RESULTS: The findings revealed significant therapeutic benefits of AI-driven art therapy, including enhanced communication and emotional regulation in individuals with ASD, and reduced symptoms of anxiety, depression, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in mental health populations. Additionally, the platforms improved emotional well-being through personalized engagement, self-reflection, and increased autonomy. However, technological barriers, ethical concerns, and accessibility issues were noted as key limitations. CONCLUSIONS: AI-driven art therapy represents a transformative and accessible tool in modern therapeutic practices. While challenges remain, its potential to support diverse populations through individually tailored and engaging interventions makes it a valuable complement to traditional mental health care.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

11. Zaikina V, Thorud HS, Rustad SF, Falkenberg HK. Systematic Literature Review: Indoor Lighting and Color Effects on Persons With ASD. Herd. 2025: 19375867251373096.

Aim: This systematic literature review, following the PRISMA statement, aims to review the knowledge of how the indoor lighting environment and color palettes impact individuals living with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), particularly their behavior and lighting and/or color preferences. Background: A supportive built environment is crucial for persons with ASD. Lighting design (daylight and electrical lighting) and color schemes significantly impact their behavior, information processing, and overall well-being. Despite its importance, lighting design for autism has received limited attention in architecture and design research. Methods: A comprehensive search across seven electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, SveMed+, and four library databases including Oria, Regina, the British National Bibliography, and the Royal Danish Library), followed by a thorough review and critical appraisal, resulted in seven (7) high-quality studies with moderate to low risk of bias. Articles were assessed using three standardized checklists, for example, JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Analytical Cross-Sectional Studies, JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research, and Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). Conclusions: The findings are consistent with previous research and confirm that light and color influence ASD individuals’ behavior and sensitivity. However, there is a substantial gap in understanding practical applications, as most studies are descriptive or exploratory rather than experimental. Future research should emphasize experimental approaches to develop evidence-based guidelines for designers.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)