TED,Trends

*** New Tool Identifies Abused Children Without Forcing Them to Relive Trauma		12/07/2025
«These behaviors, often dismissed as normal childhood phases, may actually signal something far more serious...”childhood maltreatment that traditional assessments frequently miss.Researchers from Japan's University of Fukui have developed a way to identify maltreated children without forcing them to relive traumatic experiences. Their approach uses behavioral observations from non-abusive caregivers to predict maltreatment exposure with remarkable accuracy: 90.6% sensitivity and 96.6% specificity.» [...] « A Clinical Wake-Up Call The implications extend far beyond research laboratories. Many adults diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder, or autism spectrum disorder were “once maltreated children,” Makino notes. Their current difficulties often represent “multi-layered” problems that confuse even experienced clinicians. Consider the child who develops obsessive-compulsive behaviors after emotional abuse, or the physically abused seven-year-old whose unexplained stomach aches puzzle pediatricians. Traditional diagnostic approaches might treat these as separate conditions rather than recognizing their common traumatic origin. The mathematical models created from caregiver observations achieved prediction accuracies that rival sophisticated medical tests. One model using behavioral scores, age, and IQ reached 95.5% accuracy in identifying maltreated children—without a single direct question about trauma. »...
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Childhood Maltreatment Linked to DNA Methylation Changes and Telomere Shortening Associated With Aging - GeneOnline News		12/07/2025
«Childhood maltreatment has been linked to long-term biological changes that may accelerate aging, according to findings from recent scientific research. Studies indicate that abuse and neglect during childhood not only increase the risk of chronic diseases, mental health disorders, and premature death but also trigger molecular alterations that persist for decades. These changes suggest a deeper biological impact beyond the visible consequences of maltreatment.Research has consistently demonstrated that individuals who experience childhood maltreatment face heightened vulnerability to physical and psychological health challenges throughout their lives. Scientists have identified evidence of accelerated biological aging in these individuals, including changes at the molecular level such as DNA methylation patterns and telomere shortening...”both markers associated with aging processes. These findings underscore the lasting effects of early adversity on human biology, revealing how traumatic experiences in childhood can influence health outcomes well into adulthood»...
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Online toolkit to improve autistic children's dental health | University of Leeds		11/07/2025
«A new, free, online support package aims to empower parents of young autistic children to look after their dental health - and reduce levels of tooth decay and surgery.It follows a study led by the School of Dentistry at the University of Leeds, which highlights the oral health challenges faced by autistic children.The research team has collaborated with autistic youngsters, their families, and early-years professionals to co-design the support package, following parents' calls for autism-specific advice on how to improve oral health habits.»...
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Later-Born Neurons Mature Faster to Keep Networks in Balance - Neuroscience News		09/07/2025
«Summary: The brain depends on a delicate balance between excitatory and inhibitory neurons to function properly. A new study reveals that inhibitory neurons born later in development mature more quickly than earlier ones, allowing them to catch up and integrate evenly into neural networks.This accelerated maturation is controlled by genetic mechanisms that reorganize DNA accessibility in precursor cells. The findings shed light on how timing disruptions in neuron development could contribute to disorders like autism and epilepsy.»...
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Researchers identify four distinct types of autism		09/07/2025
«There are four distinct varieties of autism, each linked to unique genetic profiles ...” a discovery that could offer new insights into the neurodevelopmental condition, according to a new study in Nature Genetics.Why it matters: The findings come as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy is pushing federal efforts to identify an "environmental" cause for increased autism incidence by September.» [...] « "This helps explain why past genetic studies often fell short — it was like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle without realizing we were actually looking at multiple different puzzles mixed together." »...
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Decomposition of phenotypic heterogeneity in autism reveals underlying genetic programs | Nature Genetics		09/07/2025
«AbstractUnraveling the phenotypic and genetic complexity of autism is extremely challenging yet critical for understanding the biology, inheritance, trajectory and clinical manifestations of the many forms of the condition. Using a generative mixture modeling approach, we leverage broad phenotypic data from a large cohort with matched genetics to identify robust, clinically relevant classes of autism and their patterns of core, associated and co-occurring traits, which we further validate and replicate in an independent cohort. We demonstrate that phenotypic and clinical outcomes correspond to genetic and molecular programs of common, de novo and inherited variation and further characterize distinct pathways disrupted by the sets of mutations in each class. Remarkably, we discover that class-specific differences in the developmental timing of affected genes align with clinical outcome differences. These analyses demonstrate the phenotypic complexity of children with autism, identify genetic programs underlying their heterogeneity, and suggest specific biological dysregulation patterns and mechanistic hypotheses.»...
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Fragile X Syndrome Treatment Gets EMA Orphan Drug Designation | American Pharmaceutical Review - The Review of American Pharmaceutical Business & Technology		08/07/2025
«Spinogenix announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted orphan drug designation (ODD) to SPG601 for the treatment of people with Fragile X syndrome (FXS), a condition for which there is currently no approved medicine.FXS, a known cause of autism, is the leading inherited form of intellectual disability caused by the silencing of the Fmr1 gene. FXS can produce a wide range of disabling symptoms, with many individuals requiring lifelong around-the-clock supportive care. SPG601 works at the synaptic level, targeting a well-established molecular dysfunction in FXS, addressing core symptoms to improve challenging behaviors and the overall quality of life of those affected. It is a small molecule large-conductance, calcium-activated potassium ("BK") channel activator that works by binding to BK channels and increasing their activation to correct specific synaptic dysfunctions that underlie many core symptoms of FXS.»...
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