1. González Cortés T, Sida Godoy C, Cruz JHS, Rosales González CC, Márquez Ríos MMG, Gutiérrez Contreras E, Espino Silva PK, Ruiz Flores P. Polymorphic Variants in Oxytocin and Arginine Vasopressin Receptors in a Pediatric Population with Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis in Mexico. Genet Test Mol Biomarkers. 2026: 19450265261417995.

BACKGROUND: Although several approaches have identified individual genes that contribute to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), more research is needed to establish whether these single nucleotide polymorphisms are associated with a lower risk. Studies have found that the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) and arginine-vasopressin receptors (AVPR) genes have an essential role as neuromodulators or neurotransmitters in ASD. Most of these studies have been primarily carried out in the United States, Western Europe, and Australasia, and there is divergence in the conclusions. OBJECTIVE: To date, there are no existing studies in Mexico on the possible usefulness of these genes as biomarkers; hence, this study analyzes the association of the rs2254298 in the OXTR1, rs7294536 in the AVPR1a, and rs28632197 in the AVPR1b with ASD. METHODS: Seventy-five samples of children with ASD and 71 samples corresponding to children with neurotypical development were analyzed. RESULTS: The study found a robust protective association for A allele of the rs28632197 in the AVPR1b, while no effect was found for the rs2254298 and rs7294536. CONCLUSION: The importance of these findings is that the protective association can prevent the disorder from occurring or prevent a more severe manifestation. These findings open new avenues for research in the role played by gene-environment interaction in different geographical and ethnic populations.

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2. Hampton LH, Fall AM, Butler J, Roberts G, Noh Y. Optimizing Measurement of Communication in Autistic Children and Their Caregivers: Dependability of the Caregiver-Child Interaction. Autism Res. 2026: e70191.

Despite widespread use of caregiver-child interactions (CCX) to evaluate outcomes in autism interventions, little research has examined the dependability of this measure. This study applied generalizability theory to determine optimal conditions for dependable assessment of child communication and caregiver implementation of communication intervention strategies. Twenty caregiver-child dyads participated in structured interactions across six daily activities on two occasions. Young autistic child communication was measured via tele-health using the Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDI) and caregiver implementation using the Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention Fidelity (NDBI-Fi) scale. Both measures demonstrated strong generalizability when multiple observations were conducted, but significantly lower dependability with single observations. For child communication, three to five activities across two occasions provided optimal dependability (Φ = 0.69-0.82). For caregiver implementation, either four activities on one occasion (Φ = 0.80) or two activities across two occasions (Φ = 0.81) yielded dependable estimates. The greatest sources of error variance were person-by-occasion (54%-59%) and person-by-activity interactions (20%-28%), with all six activities contributing similarly to measurement error. Results indicate that researchers should prioritize collecting multiple CCX observations across different activities and occasions when sampling via telehealth. For optimal feasibility and generalizability, we recommend two observations of 3-4 play-based activities to balance measurement precision with participant burden and intervention relevance. When evaluating how well parents support their autistic children’s communication development, researchers typically observe parent–child interactions during everyday activities. This study found that observing a single interaction via telehealth doesn’t provide a reliable picture of a child’s communication skills or a parent’s language support strategies. To get more accurate measurements, researchers should observe families across multiple activities (like playing with toys, reading books, and snack time) and on different days, which helps account for the natural day‐to‐day variability in how children and parents interact. eng.

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3. Huang Q, Chen D, Pereira AC, Leonard A, Ellis CL, Velthuis H, Dimitrov M, Ponteduro FM, Wong NML, Kowalewski L, Pretzsch CM, Daly E, Murphy DGM, McAlonan GM. Differential GABA dynamics across brain functional networks in autism. Commun Biol. 2026.

Differences in the ϒ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system contribute to an excitatory-inhibitory imbalance in autism, particularly affecting sensory processing. However, the brain’s broader response to interventions targeting GABA pathways in individuals with autism remains poorly understood. This study tested the hypothesis that GABAergic control of information transfer across large-scale brain functional networks is altered in autism. We conducted a phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) analysis of resting-state EEG signals within and between these networks. Responses were compared after double-blind, randomized oral administration of either a placebo or 15/30 mg of arbaclofen, a GABA(B) receptor agonist. Twenty-four non-autistic (9 males; 19-53 years) and 15 autistic participants (9 males; 20-51 years) completed 93 study visits. Autistic participants exhibited significantly higher theta-beta PAC, especially within the limbic network. High-dose arbaclofen shifted PAC metrics in visual and somatomotor networks towards non-autistic levels, but had minimal effects on networks related to higher cognitive functions. Interestingly, altered PAC within and between networks in the limbic system of autistic participants was normalized by low-dose arbaclofen, yet reemerged after high-dose administration. These findings provide compelling evidence for altered GABAergic responsivity in autism, helping explain some of the challenges in prescribing medications for autistic individuals, such as paradoxical reactions and dose sensitivity.

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4. Kumar N, Goyal A, Agarwal N, Bharat R, Baptist R, Agarwal P. Impact of Family Structure on Parental Stress and Child Severity Scores After Early Intervention Therapy in Children with Autism. Indian J Pediatr. 2026.

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5. Langdon MC, Brown A, Hearps SJC, Davies MJ, Collins B, McDonald S, Turkstra LS, Dooley J, Darby D, Darling SJ, Beauchamp MH, Anderson VA. A dimensional analysis of autism: The role of basic socio-cognitive skills for social competence in children. J Neuropsychol. 2026.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with negative social outcomes and with impaired social competence in general. There is a wealth of research on cognitive factors that underpin these social challenges. Social cognition is perhaps the most studied contributor to social challenges; however, the lack of ecologically valid assessment tools raises questions about the translation of study results to everyday social functioning. Research has also primarily focussed on categorical approaches to social cognition (i.e. clinical versus control groups). However, there is growing evidence for the utility of a dimensional approach to research, where ASD symptomology is investigated across all children on a continuum, regardless of diagnosis. We adopted a dimensional framework and novel assessment tools from the Test for the Evaluation of Emotions and Socialisation (TEEMS) platform to investigate the relationship between social cognition, everyday social competence and autism symptomology in a sample of 668 children aged 4-18 years. Structural equation modelling showed that social cognition test errors predicted poor social competence. This relationship diminished when intelligence (IQ) and autism symptomology were included as predictors, suggesting a potential moderating effect of IQ and autism symptomology on the association between social cognition and social competence. Furthermore, social cognition errors predicted autism symptomology, which in turn predicted social competence. These findings support the use of a dimensional approach – focussing on symptomology across all children, regardless of diagnosis, rather than clinical samples alone. The findings demonstrate further evidence for the utility of TEEMS as a measure of social cognition.

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6. Li K, Yang Y, Zheng C, Du B, Zhao Y, Chen Y, Liu J, Cai J, Liu Y, Xia Y, Chen L, Jia F. Interpersonal Coordination Deficits in Joint Action in Pre-school Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evidence From fNIRS Hyper-Scanning and Machine Learning. J Autism Dev Disord. 2026.

PURPOSE: Whether children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit interpersonal coordination deficits remains controversy. The study employed functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning technology to investigate the performance of children with ASD in interpersonal cooperation and competition coordination tasks under dyadic gamed interaction situation. METHODS: 42 children (21 with ASD, 21 without ASD) performed a dyadic block-building task with collaborative intention (leading condition, following condition, turn-taking condition) (Experiment 1) and a competitive intention (Experiment 2) with an experimenter. Signal brain activation and interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) were analyzed and INS values further classified by machine-learning method and computed by using the SHAP toolkit. RESULTS: Children with ASD showed lower behavioral accuracy and behavioral synchrony in the tasks of the both two experiments; lower interpersonal neural synchronization(INS) in right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ)-right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG), rTPJ-right inferior parietal lobule, and bilateral TPJ pairs in the three conditions under collaboration intention in experiment 1; and lower single-brain activation level in the right inferior parietal lobule (rIPL) under competition intention task in experiment 2. Finally, the children with and without ASD in Ex1 could be successfully discriminated against based on INS value by using Random Forest, AdaBoost, and XGBoost machine learning methods. CONCLUSIONS: From the interpersonal behavioral and neural synchronization, the current study demonstrated the interpersonal coordination deficits in joint action for children with ASD from cooperative and competitive intention; notably, INS is an effective neural indicator and the machine learning method provides a novel strategy for analyzing and validating INS for interpersonal coordination deficits in joint action for the population of ASD.

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7. Nance MG, Chang WR, Aldridge C, Burnsed J, Pelphrey K, Zanelli S, Puglia MH. From Breath to Brain: NICU respiratory interventions and bedside brain signal entropy predict later autism risk. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2026; 78: 101679.

Premature infants often experience hypoxia and require prolonged ventilation, which can trigger systemic inflammation, damage the developing brain, and increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Early intervention is key for ensuring optimal outcomes for those with ASD; thus emphasizing the critical importance of accurately identifying infants at risk as early as possible. Here, infants underwent electroencephalography during social (held) and nonsocial (not held) resting state conditions to assess brain signal variability, saliva collection to determine inflammation, calculation of a novel Prognostic Respiratory Intensity Scoring Metric (PRISM) to assess the burden of respiratory support, and ASD testing in toddlerhood. Higher PRISM scores were associated with increased brain signal entropy during the nonsocial resting state. However, this association was not observed in the social resting state condition – particularly for male babies. Interestingly in female infants, we saw that the relationship between brain signal entropy and PRISM scores were potentially mediated by cytokines. Notably, the interaction between nonsocial resting state brain signal entropy, sex, and PRISM scores predicted risk of developing ASD with 88 % accuracy. These non-invasive measures can identify infants at the highest risk for an ASD diagnosis before discharge.

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8. Smit DJA, Koyuncu Z, Vulink N, Begeer S. Misophonia Symptoms in Autistic Adults. J Autism Dev Disord. 2026.

PURPOSE: Misophonia is the adverse emotional reaction to everyday sounds (e.g., chewing or pen clicking). Since atypical sensory experiences are a key feature of autism, we investigated whether autistic individuals are more liable for experiencing misophonia symptoms. In addition, we explore the contribution of sensory sensitivity to misophonia symptoms in autism. METHODS: Autistic adults (N = 1050) filled out the Amsterdam Misophonia Scale-Revised (AMISOS-R), the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ-28), and the Sensory Processing Questionnaire (SPQ). Chi-square tests were applied to compare proportion of moderate or higher AMISOS-R scores over 20 to previously reported values in the extant literature. Next we modelled the quantitative level of AMISOS-R scores as function of AQ-28 with age, sex, and co-occurring disorders. Finally, we ran a mediation model adding SPQ as a mediator. RESULTS: Autistic people reported moderate to extreme levels of AMISOS-R in higher proportion than the general population. In particular autistic females and those with co-occurring disorders scored higher. In quantitative models, we found that autistic traits strongly predicted misophonia symptoms after correcting for multiple covariates. Both the hearing and vision subscales of the SPQ significantly mediated the effect. CONCLUSION: The increased level of misophonia symptoms in autism and the mediation analyses suggest that autistic traits and sensory sensitivity are factors to consider for a subset of misophonia sufferers, with possible consequences for their clinical interventions.

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9. Tovin MM, Madden SB, Wu K, Nunez-Gaunaurd A. Comparing methods to measure wearable device adherence for physical activity monitoring for persons with autism: A prospective observational cohort study. Physiother Theory Pract. 2026: 1-9.

INTRODUCTION: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have higher rates of obesity and exhibit more sedentary behaviors than neurotypical peers. Use of wearable devices (WD) to target insufficient physical activity (PA) in this population has increased over the past decade. However, standardized methods for assessing WD adherence remain limited among this understudied population. PURPOSE: A prospective observational cohort design was used to compare two methods for determining WD adherence for monitoring PA in adolescents and adults with ASD. METHODS: Subjects were enrolled in an 8-week telehealth program aimed at improving PA among adolescents and adults with ASD. The Fitbit Inspire 3 WD was utilized for PA tracking and self-monitoring. Subject step activity and heart rate (HR) data were collected for an 8-week period via FITABASE management platform. Adherence was calculated using two methods. Method-A was defined as ≥10-hr daily wear-time based on HR monitoring; Method-B was defined as ≥ 500 steps/day. Observational data collected via researcher field notes documented participant-reported factors and/or behaviors that influenced WD adherence. RESULTS: Data from twenty-seven subjects (21 males, 6 females) ages 14 to 28 years (mean: 18.85 years) were analyzed. Adherence was significantly higher when calculated using Method B (mean = 40 days, 5.4 weeks) compared to Method A (mean = 24 days, 2.8 weeks; p  < .001). Observational data identified disability-related behaviors that negatively impacted Method A derived adherence. CONCLUSIONS: Using HR-based measures of adherence may underestimate device use in individuals with ASD, potentially setting unrealistic expectations for continuous wear. Step-based metrics provides a more inclusive and pragmatic approach for assessing WD adherence in this population, with implications for future intervention design and evaluation. This study highlights the need to tailor WD adherence definitions to the behavioral and sensory profiles of neurodiverse populations. Further study is warranted.

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10. Tupou J, Kewene F, Morrison-Young I, Wi-Hongi A, Sporle A, Diamond T, Theodore R, Bowden N. Identification of autistic Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand: A national cross-sectional study. Autism. 2026; 30(2): 362-74.

This study examines disparities in autism identification rates and support needs between Māori and non-Māori populations in Aotearoa New Zealand. The research was conducted through a collaborative approach with autistic Māori. Population-level administrative data were analysed for all individuals aged 0-24 years (N = 1,565,505) as of 30 June 2018. Autism identification was determined through health service records from July 2010 to June 2018. Comparative analyses examined autism rates, intellectual disability (ID) co-occurrence, and Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS; high-need education funding support) allocation between Māori and non-Māori populations. Autism identification rates were lower among Māori (70.9/10,000) compared to non-Māori (78.3/10,000). Autistic Māori had higher rates of ID diagnosis (OR = 1.12; 95% CI = 1.02, 1.24) and ORS funding allocation (OR = 1.35; 95% CI = 1.22, 1.48). The observed disparities in autism identification rates and diagnostic patterns suggest potential systemic barriers to autism identification among Māori, particularly for those with lower formal support needs. Future Kaupapa Māori, autistic-led research is warranted to better understand these disparities and inform culturally responsive diagnostic and support services.Lay AbstractIn this study, autistic Māori collaborated with researchers to analyse autism identification in Aotearoa New Zealand using population-level administrative data. The research examined all children and young people (0-24 years) in the Aotearoa New Zealand population as of 30 June 2018, identifying autism through health service records between July 2010 and June 2018. The findings showed lower autism identification rates among Māori (70.9 per 10,000) compared to non-Māori (78.3 per 10,000). This difference in rates is likely to reflect ongoing inequities and systemic racism, not true prevalence differences. Autistic Māori were also more frequently diagnosed with intellectual disability (ID) and more likely to receive high-need education funding support than autistic non-Māori. While these patterns might suggest higher formal support needs among autistic Māori, it’s crucial to recognise that support requirements are highly individual and context-dependent, making them difficult to measure using broad indicators. The lower overall autism identification rate among Māori, combined with these findings, suggests that autistic Māori with lower formal support needs may be missing opportunities for diagnosis and not accessing the supports and services they are entitled to. Future Kaupapa Māori, autistic-led research is needed to gain a more nuanced understanding of autism identification and support needs among Māori.

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11. Vimalchand LS, Srinivasan D, Senthamilselvan A, Santhakumar D. Comparative Evaluation of Three Different Toothbrushing Teaching Interventions in Improving Oral Hygiene in Autistic Children Aged 7-15 Years-A Randomized Clinical Trial. Spec Care Dentist. 2026; 46(1): e70142.

AIM AND BACKGROUND: Addressing oral hygiene in children with autism remains a critical concern for dental professionals and caregivers. These challenges make routine toothbrushing difficult and increase the risk of oral health problems. Recognizing the urgent need for practical solutions, this investigation was undertaken to evaluate three structured toothbrushing teaching interventions and their effectiveness among autistic children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study evaluated the effectiveness of three instructional methods-visual posters, video demonstrations, and caregiver modeling to improve oral hygiene in autistic children aged 7-15 years. Sixty participants were randomly divided into three groups. Toothbrushing skills, cooperation (Frankl Scale), and oral hygiene (OHI-S) were assessed over 3 months. RESULTS: All groups showed significant improvement. Parent Modeling (15.55 ± 1.23) was highly superior to both Video and Poster groups (p < 0.001). A statistically significant difference (p = 0.024) was also found favoring the Video (12.80 ± 1.20) over the Poster (10.75 ± 2.49) group. CONCLUSION: Caregiver modeling was the most effective method for teaching toothbrushing to children with ASD, promoting better outcomes in both oral hygiene and behavioural cooperation. TRIAL REGISTRATION: CTRI/2025/03/083547.

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12. Xu H, Li M, Zhang L, Zhang W, Jiang Y, Zhu M, Chi X. Common and distinct changes of regional resting-state brain activity between high- and low-functioning autism spectrum disorder. BMC Psychiatry. 2026.

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