1. Friedrich EVC, Hilla Y, Sterner EF, Ostermeier SS, Behnke L, Sauseng P. Theta-gamma phase amplitude coupling serves as a marker of social cognition and visual working memory deficits in individuals with elevated autistic traits. Commun Psychol;2026 (Jan 14)

It has been thought that coordination of briefly maintained information (working memory) and social cognition (mentalizing) rely on different brain mechanisms. However, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) seems to control the mentalizing and the visual working memory networks. We aimed to show (1) that visual working memory and social cognition share the same neural communication mechanism (i.e., interregional phase-amplitude coupling) and (2) that this mechanism is behaviorally relevant. We analyzed electrical brain activity from 98 volunteers who differed in the extent of (subclinical) autistic personality traits. Participants performed a social, visual and verbal working memory task, each implemented in a low and a high cognitive load version. We analyzed how slow rhythmical brain activity in the DMPFC controls distributed posterior regions associated with working memory and mentalizing via phase-amplitude coupling. First, individuals with low autistic personality traits use slow rhythmical brain activity in the DMPFC to precisely tune communication with posterior brain areas depending on the effort necessary in the visual and social tasks. Second, individuals with high autistic personality traits struggle in fine-tuning this mechanism, which is associated with difficulties in efficiently adapting brain activity to the difficulty level of a visual working memory task; and they demonstrate problems with efficiently synchronizing the relevant cortical network in a social cognition task. While these findings suggest a unified function of brain oscillations in cognitive coordination between social and visual tasks, they could also explain why individuals with high autistic personality traits can have difficulties with demanding cognitive processing and mentalizing.

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2. Perzolli S, Bertamini G, Venuti P, Bentenuto A. Father-child interactions in autism: A multivariate analysis of behavioral patterns in Italian dyads. Res Dev Disabil;2026 (Jan 12);169:105196.

Although research on fathers in the context of autism has increased in recent years, the behavioral dimensions of paternal involvement, and how these behaviors relate to child characteristics, remain insufficiently understood. This study examined how multiple aspects of fathers’ interactive behavior, including affective quality, play, and language, co-occur and relate to children’s behaviors in a sample of autistic preschoolers. Participants were 43 Italian fathers and their 43 autistic children (M chronological age = 40.74 months, SD = 11.51; M mental age = 29.28 months, SD = 12.31). Fathers’ interactive behaviors were assessed using observational and standardized measures of affect (Emotional Availability Scales, EAS), play (Play Code), and language (Penman Code). Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) identified two distinct patterns of paternal behavior. The first reflected high sensitivity and structuring, suggesting an attuned and supportive interactive style. The second pattern was characterized by reduced verbalization combined with low intrusiveness, indicating a relational, child-centered approach. Father-child play behaviors were strongly aligned, highlighting mutual attunement during shared play. Moreover, higher paternal sensitivity was associated with greater child involvement and responsiveness. Overall, findings suggest that fathers exhibit flexible configurations of behavior that may be linked to their children’s characteristics. These results underscore the importance of multivariate approaches for capturing the complexity of father-child interactions in autism and highlight the need for personalized, father-inclusive strategies in developmental assessment and intervention.

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3. Saad K, Abdel-Sadek ZM, Al-Atram AA, Elhoufey A, Alanazi ATB, Temsah MH, Embaby MM, Gad EF. Analysis of the global burden, biological risk factors, and implications of autism spectrum disorder. Pediatr Res;2026 (Jan 13)

Widening ASD burden disparities between high and low socioeconomic regions require targeted workforce development and resource allocation in underserved areas. With ASD disability projected to rise 58.83% by 2030, healthcare systems must expand developmental screening and early intervention services in primary care. Integration of GBD epidemiological data with causal inference techniques enables evidence-based policy development for children’s neurodevelopmental health services.

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4. Tan Y, Chan KKS. Emotion regulation in families of autistic children and adolescents: A longitudinal study. Autism;2026 (Jan 13):13623613251401049.

This study investigated whether parental emotion-regulation difficulties are prospectively associated with increased emotion-regulation challenges in autistic children and adolescents and explored the underlying mechanisms and behavioral implications of these potential intergenerational associations. Over three time points (T1, T2, T3) spanning 2 years, 363 parents of autistic children and adolescents from Hong Kong provided questionnaire data. Path analyses revealed that parental emotion-regulation difficulties at T1 were associated with greater negative emotional expressiveness at T2, which in turn was linked to increased emotion-regulation difficulties and more internalizing and externalizing problems in autistic children and adolescents at T3. Importantly, these findings indicate that when parents have difficulty regulating their emotions and express negativity, their autistic children and adolescents are more likely to face emotion-regulation challenges and exhibit behavior problems. This underscores the need to support parents in regulating their emotions and optimizing their emotional expressiveness. Clinicians and policymakers should help parents strengthen their emotion regulation and enhance their emotional well-being by building coping strategies and fostering supportive environments. By promoting parents’ emotional wellness, we may also improve psychological adjustment and behavioral outcomes for their autistic children and adolescents.Lay abstractParents of autistic children and adolescents often experience high levels of parenting stress and face challenges in managing their own negative emotions. These emotional struggles can impact their autistic children and adolescents during everyday interactions, potentially intensifying the emotional and behavioral difficulties they experience. This study examined whether parents’ emotion-regulation patterns are longitudinally linked to the development of emotion regulation in their autistic children and adolescents. The findings revealed that when parents had difficulty regulating their emotions and frequently expressed negative emotions, their autistic children and adolescents were more likely to face emotion-regulation challenges and experience personal distress and interpersonal difficulties. This underscores the importance of supporting parents in regulating their emotions and optimizing their emotional expressiveness. Clinicians and policymakers should assist parents in strengthening their emotion regulation and enhancing their emotional well-being by building coping strategies and fostering supportive environments. By promoting parents’ emotional wellness, we may also improve psychological adjustment and behavioral functioning for their autistic children and adolescents.

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5. Xuan DS, Li HX, Sun YB, Liu YC, Wang GY, Xing QN, Shang HL, Cheng MY, Lu L, Zhang XA, Zhao X. Altered dynamic functional stability of resting-state brain activity in autism spectrum disorder: A multicenter fMRI study. J Affect Disord;2026 (Jan 11):121143.

BACKGROUND: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition, and its underlying neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. METHODS: In this study, we investigated neural patterns and mechanisms of ASD using a voxel-wise measure of dynamic functional stability-Kendall’s concordance coefficient-derived from whole-brain dynamic functional connectivity in a large, multicenter fMRI dataset. Furthermore, we explored the relationship between brain activity and behavioral measures. Finally, we performed a whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) analysis using the above three significant clusters as seed points. RESULTS: ASD showed altered dynamic functional stability in three regions, with increased stability in the left frontal pole and reduced stability in the right central opercular cortex and left postcentral gyrus. Left frontal pole stability was positively associated with ADOS communication scores, whereas left postcentral gyrus stability was negatively associated with stereotyped behaviors. Seed-based FC analyses revealed decreased FC between the left postcentral gyrus and widespread sensorimotor-parietal regions in ASD. Symptom-connectivity analyses further showed broad negative correlations between FC and ADOS scores: reduced frontal and sensorimotor connectivity was linked to more severe communication and social impairments. CONCLUSION: Our study revealed abnormal temporal stability of functional brain activity in ASD, thereby enhancing our understanding of ASD pathogenesis. Moreover, this dynamic stability analysis may serve as a reliable tool for early autism diagnosis.

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6. Zhu H, Gan Y, Ye J, Li Y, Yu JZ, Li X. Effectiveness of brain-computer interface interventions in autism spectrum disorder rehabilitation: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol. BMJ Open;2026 (Jan 13);16(1):e102277.

BACKGROUND: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by impairments in social interaction, communication and the presence of repetitive behaviours. Recent advancements in brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies have demonstrated potential benefits in enhancing cognitive, social and communication skills in individuals with ASD. However, the effectiveness of BCI-based interventions in ASD rehabilitation remains inconsistent across studies. Therefore, this protocol outlines a systematic review and meta-analysis to synthesise the evidence on the effectiveness of BCI-based interventions for ASD rehabilitation. METHODS: We will conduct a comprehensive literature search across multiple databases, including MEDLINE Ovid, Embase Ovid, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Science (CPCI-S), Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) and so on, to identify relevant studies published from inception to the present. The search will be supplemented by screening the reference lists of included studies and relevant systematic reviews. Two independent reviewers will screen the titles, abstracts and full texts of identified studies for eligibility based on predefined criteria. Data extraction will be performed using a standardised form, and the risk of bias (RoB) will be assessed using the Cochrane RoB tool. Heterogeneity will be evaluated using the I² statistic, and a random-effects or fixed-effects model will be selected for meta-analysis based on the degree of heterogeneity. Subgroup analyses will be conducted to explore potential sources of heterogeneity, including participant age, ASD severity, type of BCI intervention and duration of the intervention. The review will be conducted from January 2026 to April 2026. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not required for this study, as it does not involve the collection of primary data from individual patients. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publication and conference presentations. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD420251010496.

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