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Spectrum: Autism Research News

Author

George Musser

Freelance writer

George Musser is an award-winning science writer and editor. He was a senior editor at Scientific American for 15 years and has written two books on fundamental physics, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to String Theory” (2008) and “Spooky Action at a Distance” (2015). He has written for Science, Nature, Quanta, Aeon, Nautilus, The New York Times and other publications. His website is georgemusser.com. He tweets at @gmusser.

May 2019
Hands touching, showing nerves highlighted in different parts of the hand.

How ‘social touch’ shapes autism traits

by  /  29 May 2019

Autistic people have unusual responses to ‘affective touch,’ which conveys social and emotional information. Their responses may reveal how autism begins.

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Illustration shows the world is distorted through a point of view pair of glasses

The predictive coding theory of autism, explained

by  /  1 May 2019

In autism, a person’s brain may not form accurate predictions of imminent experiences, or even if it does, sensory input may override those predictions.

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October 2018
A woman stands at an ATM in a mall scene, looking at a camera

How virtual reality is transforming autism studies

by  /  24 October 2018

Researchers and autistic artists exploring virtual reality to study, treat and simulate autism traits.

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March 2018
An picture to illustrate a ‘predictive coding’ theory of autism suggests that many of the condition’s hallmark traits occur when sensory input overrides expectation in the brain.

How autism may stem from problems with prediction

by  /  7 March 2018

A ‘predictive coding’ theory of autism suggests that many of the condition’s hallmark traits occur when sensory input overrides expectation in the brain.

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