This course illuminates current theories about autism together with challenges faced by people on the autism spectrum. Theories in communicating, interacting socially, managing cognitive and affective overload, and achieving independent lifestyles are covered. In parallel, the course presents state-of-the-art technologies being developed for helping improve both theoretical understanding and practical outcomes. Participants are expected to meet and interact with people on the autism spectrum. Weekly reading, discussion, and a term project are required.

Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe the symptoms, potential causes, and treatment of several examples of nervous system disorders

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder for which effective pharmacological treatments are currently limited. One promising candidate for treatment, however, is the gene EphB6. which, among other things, helps regulate the gut microbiome. To explore EphB6’s link to both the gut microbiome and autism, researchers deleted the gene from the genome of mice. That deletion induced autism-like behavior relative to mice retaining the EphB6 gene, including spending more time on self-grooming and showing a lower preference for mouse “strangers.” Deleting EphB6 also altered the composition of the mice’s gut microbiome, decreasing the abundance of certain bacteria. Interestingly, transplanting the fecal microbiota of EphB6-deficient mice into certain wild-type mice induced autism-like behavior. Meanwhile, transplanting the fecal microbiota from wild-type mice to EphB6-deficient mice seemed to reduce autism-like behavior. Further experiments linked EphB6 deletion to vitamin B6 and dopamine defects..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.