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First Measurable Molecular Difference Found in Autistic Brains
Autistic adults show about 15% lower mGlu5 receptor availability linked to altered excitatory brain activity measured by EEG, suggesting a molecular basis for autism traits.
- In adult participants, the team reported 15% lower metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 availability across brain regions in autistic adults, largest in the cerebral cortex compared with neurotypical control participants.
- Motivated by long‑standing hypotheses, the Yale School of Medicine research team assessed glutamatergic receptor density and related it to electroencephalogram measures to address unclear molecular mechanisms in autism.
- Fifteen autistic participants had EEG testing, and Spearman's rho correlation method showed mGlu5 availability correlated with EEG power‑spectrum slope, including cerebral cortex r=0.67, with multimethod analyses revealing associations.
- The study suggests lower brain‑wide mGlu5 availability may help stratify autism and inform mGlu5‑targeted therapeutics, while electroencephalography offers clinicians and researchers a cheaper, accessible tool.
- This finding positions mGlu5 as a measurable signature, with the Yale research team planning studies in children and adolescents using newer lower-radiation PET techniques to explore developmental timing of mGlu5 differences.
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National Institutes of Health (NIH)…Reposted by 
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researcher.lifeImaging Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 5 and Excitatory Neural Activity in Autism
This brain-wide investigation of mGlu5 availability with PET revealed pervasive lower mGlu5 availability across multiple brain areas in autism. Additionally, multimethod analyses revealed associations with a noninvasive electrophysiological index of excitatory neurotransmission. These results indica …
·Washington, United States
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Autistic Brains Show Measurable Molecular Shift in Glutamate Signaling
For many autistic people, a crowded cafe isn’t just noisy. Every clinking spoon sounds like a bell. Every flickering light feels like a strobe. Clinicians have diagnosed autism through behavioral observation for decades, but the biological mechanisms behind these differences have remained elusive. Now, researchers at Yale School of Medicine report a concrete molecular signature ...
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