1. Brennan J, Davis TE, 3rd. The Impact of Support on Parents of Autistic Children: The Relationships Between Support, Stress, and Relationship Satisfaction. J Autism Dev Disord. 2025.

Increased caregiving demands from raising an autistic child result in reduced social support, increased parenting stress, and decreased relationship satisfaction for their parents. While social support is protective against parental stress and can increase relationship satisfaction, few studies have examined the relationships between the support networks, functions of support (e.g., informational, emotional, and instrumental), and well-being of parents of autistic children. This study surveyed 112 parents (73 mothers and 39 fathers) of autistic children (aged 5-12 years) online to examine the relationships between (1) who was identified as a primary support person (PSP), (2) which functions of support parents perceived from their PSP, (3) how stressed parents reported they were, and (4) how satisfied parents were with their relationship with their PSP. Results indicated parents most frequently identified a friend or family member as their PSP, emotional support was the most frequently identified function of support, and emotional support had the strongest association with relationship satisfaction. The results of this study provide a foundation for future studies on the implications of support networks, functions of perceived support, and stress on the relationship satisfaction of parents of autistic children.

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2. Knudsen LV, Sheldrick-Michel AJ, Vafaee MS, Michel TM. Dissimilarities in volume and function of social brain regions in autism. J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2025.

Despite growing awareness, diagnosing Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) in adulthood remains challenging due to a limited range of diagnostic tools beyond psychological assessments. Although recent neuroimaging advancements have identified social brain regions (SBR) associated with sociability, research on these areas in ASC, particularly within the largely understudied adult ASC population, remains scarce. Explore functional and volumetric differences in the SBR between autistic and neurotypical individuals. We conducted a volumetric and functional assessment of SBRs using open-source MRI data from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE). The sample included 44 adult ASC (37 male, mean age 25.86 ± 6.58) and 64 adult neurotypical individuals (51 male, mean age 25.36 ± 4.05). Autistic adult individuals demonstrated lower left nucleus accumbens volume. The amplitude of low frequency fluctuations was enhanced in the orbitofrontal cortex and temporoparietal junction, and decreased in the caudate, hippocampus, thalamus, and ventral tegmental area in the autistic group. Additionally, a widespread increase in functional connectivity within the SBR was demonstrated in the ASC group. Structural and functional measures allowed classification of autistic and neurotypical individuals with 76% accuracy using a support vector machine model. The results demonstrate significant SBR differences between adult autistic and neurotypical individuals, highlighting the SBR as potentially essential in ASC etiology, we demonstrate its ability to classify autistic and neurotypical individuals. However, further exploration of the SBR using advanced imaging techniques is required.

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3. Liu Y, Guo R, Jaenisch R. Rett Syndrome: Thinking Beyond Brain Borders. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2025; 1477: 243-63.

Rett Syndrome (RTT) is a severe neurological disorder caused by mutations in the MECP2 gene. This disorder primarily affects brain development, leading to profound cognitive and motor impairments. Conventionally, research on RTT has concentrated on the neurological impact of MECP2 mutations. However, other evidence suggests that the influence of RTT extends beyond neural boundaries, impacting a broad spectrum of other tissues and organ systems. This chapter provides an overview of identified abnormalities in respiratory, skeletal, cardiac, liver, endocrine, urinary, immune, and gastrointestinal systems in patients with RTT or related disease models. We further explore the potential pathways involved in the brain-body circuit and their impact on the development of RTT. These insights not only enhance our understanding of the multi-system involvement in RTT, but also reveal the necessity for a more comprehensive approach to investigating the systemic courses of neurological disorders.

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4. Marzi A, Caniato M, Gasparella A. The influence of indoor temperature and noise on autistic individuals. Sci Rep. 2025; 15(1): 18802.

This study examines the influence of temperature and noise on autistic individuals. Conventional indoor comfort questionnaires as well as pre-validated attentional tests were administered to autistic and typically developed individuals across six different environmental scenarios. Results showed that autistic individuals struggled with completing conventional questionnaires independently providing inconsistent responses. Attentional tests were always successfully autonomously completed, revealing significant performance declines for autistic individuals because of temperature variation (4 °C) or sudden noises. Background noise (55 dB(A)) also caused performance decreases, whether typically developed individuals were unaffected by all conditions. These findings suggest that (i) conventional indoor comfort questionnaires are unsuitable for autistic individuals, (ii) indoor environmental conditions (temperature and noise) do stress autistic people (iv) stressors thresholds are provided and (iv) attentional tests could be successfully used to investigate autistic individuals’ indoor conditions and assess their perceived stress in relation to variations of temperature and acoustic circumstances.

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5. Metwally AM, Salah El-Din EM, Sami SM, Abdelraouf ER, Sallam SF, Elsaeid A, El-Saied MM, Ashaat EA, Fathy AM, El-Hariri HM, Elshaarawy GA, Nassar MS, Shehata MA, El-Alameey IR, Bassiouni RI, Abdou MH, Helmy MA, Elghareeb NA, AbdAllah M, Rabah TM, Salama SI, Saleh RM, El Etreby LA, Elmosalami DM, Eltahlawy E, Zeid DA. Mapping autism in Egypt: population-based insights into prevalence, risk determinants, and severity among children aged 1-12 years. Mol Autism. 2025; 16(1): 32.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a common developmental disorder, has surged in recent years. Accordingly, the identification and early management of possible risk factors can diminish ASD incidence. AIM: To determine the prevalence and severity of idiopathic ASD in Egyptian children aged 12 months to 12 years, and to identify the epidemiological, sociodemographic, and environmental risk factors contributing to this disorder. METHODS: This study comprised 41,640 children from the main eight geographic areas in Egypt. It was conducted through four phases: household screening, facility-based screening for high-risk children, diagnosis confirmation, and risk factor assessment. RESULTS: The prevalence of ASD as confirmed by the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) was 1.1% (455 out of 41,640), with significant geographic variability. Urban areas had a significantly higher prevalence than rural areas. Children aged 3-6 years showed the highest prevalence at 1.5%. Boys were four times more affected than girls, with prevalence rates of 1.7% and 0.4%, respectively. Significant risk factors included: a history of convulsions (AOR = 4.7; 95% CI: 3.3-6.79), low birth weight (AOR = 2.08; 95% CI: 1.54-2.79), prolonged stays in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) longer than two days (AOR = 1.91; 95% CI: 1.46-2.49) and maternal health problems during pregnancy (AOR = 1.66; 95% CI:1.36-1.95). Regarding severity, 45% of diagnosed children had moderate ASD, 39% had severe ASD, and 16% had mild ASD. Female gender and older age were significant predictors of greater ASD severity. CONCLUSION: ASD prevalence in Egypt is comparable to other Middle Eastern countries. Policymakers should utilize these findings to design targeted public health interventions aimed at early detection, management, and prevention of ASD progression.

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6. Nguyen LT, Nguyen PM, Nguyen HP, Bui HT, Dao LTM, Van Pham M, Hoang CK, Nguyen PT, Nguyen TTP, Nguyen ATP, Hoang VT, Bui HTP, Vuong NK, Van Ngo D. Outcomes of autologous bone marrow mononuclear cell administration combined with educational intervention in the treatment of autism spectrum disorder: a randomized, open-label, controlled phase II clinical trial. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2025; 16(1): 268.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the effectiveness of intrathecal autologous bone marrow mononuclear cell (BMMNC) therapy combined with education compared with education alone for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHODS: Fifty-four children with ASD, aged three to seven years, were randomly assigned to two groups. Fifty patients completed the study (25 patients per group). The cell therapy (CT) group received two BMMNC infusions six months apart along with an educational intervention, while the control group received education only. Efficacy outcomes were assessed at baseline, two, six, and 12 months, based on: (1) changes in ASD severity evaluated through the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), and the Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) scale scores and (2) improvements in social interaction, adaptive behavior, and daily living skills measured by the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS-II) and Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) scale scores. RESULTS: At 12 months, the CT group presented a 48.0% reduction in individuals classified at the most severe DSM-5 level compared with 8.0% in the control group (p = 0.004). The CARS scores were significantly lower in the CT group (-5.9 points) than in the control group (-1.5 points) (p < 0.0001). Similarly, the CT group exhibited greater improvement in CGI-S scores (-1.5 points) than did the control group (-0.1 points) (p < 0.0001). The VABS-II scores increased by 8.5 points in the CT group versus 1.4 points in the control group (p < 0.0001). Finally, the CGI-I scores improved from 2.8 to 2.0 in the CT group but worsened from 3.0 to 3.5 in the control group (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Intrathecal BMMNC combined with an educational intervention improved disease severity and adaptability more than education alone in children with ASD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov, NCT05307536. Date registered 12 February 2022. http://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05307536 .

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7. Oğur Ç, Olçay S. The Effectiveness of Video Visual Scene Display-Assisted Behavioral Skills Training in the Instruction of Skills to Prevent Online Sexual Abuse Among Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Arch Sex Behav. 2025.

The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of the video visual scene display-assisted behavioral skills training in skills to prevent online sexual abuse among adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study was conducted with three 21-23-year-old male individuals with ASD, and the multiple probe model across participants, a single-subject research model. The study findings demonstrated that all individuals acquired the skills to prevent online sexual abuse, generalized the acquired skills to different individuals, and maintained these skills for 2-4 weeks after the instruction. Furthermore, social validity data were collected from the participants, their parents, and teachers with the subjective analysis approach, and it was observed that participants, their parents, and teachers reported positive views about the instruction of the skills, the intervention, and the outcomes.

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8. Siew J, Warreyn P, Moerman F, Van Lierde T, Zanatta A, Roeyers H. Maternal Touch During Mother-Infant Interactions in Infants With and Without an Elevated Likelihood for Autism: Links With Symptom-Level Difficulties of Maternal Psychological Stress. Autism Res. 2025.

Infants at elevated likelihood for autism (EL infants) have varied developmental outcomes. This exposes parents to a unique parenting journey, and in some, heightened psychological stress. This study investigated how maternal psychological stress is linked to variations in mother-infant interactions, specifically touch. We focused on mothers of EL infants, including infants with an older autistic sibling and infants born preterm (< 30 weeks), as well as mothers of infants at typical likelihood for autism (TL infants). At 10 months, maternal touch was coded during mother-infant interactions (n = 100) and psychological stress was measured using the Brief Symptom Inventory (n = 108). Results showed that mothers of sibling infants (n = 44) reported higher depressive symptoms compared to mothers of TL infants (n = 22). Mothers of preterm infants (n = 39) used less affectionate and caregiving touch and had shorter total touch duration, compared to mothers of TL infants (n = 20), and to a lesser extent, mothers of sibling infants (n = 41). In addition, mothers of sibling infants exhibited more high-intensity touch than both mothers of preterm and TL infants. Notably, increased depressive symptoms were associated with decreased touch duration in mothers of sibling (n = 41) and preterm infants (n = 39) only. These findings underscore the complex relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and maternal use of touch.

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