Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can require lifelong supportive care for individuals who experience significant difficulties with social, language and cognitive skills. A new study provides critical insights into the biological basis of autism using mini-brains developed in the laboratory. These findings will help us better understand and manage the various subtypes of autism.
Biological basis of autism revealed through mini-brain experiments
Neuroscientist Eric Courchesne from the University of California San Diego and an international team of scientists investigated the biological origins of autism using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
These cells are derived from blood samples from 10 infants with autism and 6 controls without autism and can be transformed into any cell type. The researchers transformed the iPSCs into simplified 3D brain models called brain cortical organoids (BCOs).
The key finding of the study was that mini-brains using iPSCs from children with autism grew about 40% larger compared to neurotypical controls. The larger size and faster growth of BCOs was also associated with more severe forms of autism, offering important clues about how autism develops at very early stages of brain formation:
“The larger the embryonic BCO size, the more severe the child’s later social symptoms of autism were. Children with profound autism had the largest BCO growth during embryonic development. Those with mild autism social symptoms showed only slight growth.”
The researchers found that the growth in BCOs was also consistent with growth in the social brain regions of children with more severe autism. These children were less responsive to social stimuli. They also found that children with profound autism had enlarged primary auditory and somatosensory cortices. This finding may help explain sensory and social attention problems.
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Along with the many complex factors that contribute to autism, it has been suggested that something like overstimulation of brain growth, even at the embryonic stage, may play a role. This new research brings us closer to understanding how autism begins.
“In the embryogenic process, the biological underpinnings of the deep autism and mild autism subtypes are already present and measurable,” the researchers said, noting that future larger sample BCO studies will reveal other subtypes as well.
