Autism
Disease4 papers9 findings
A human preprint links autism to higher Blood, Brain and Liver SystemsAge estimates in saliva. Human research links autism to cognitive and executive function; a review describes greater subjective cognitive difficulty and poorer processing speed, verbal fluency and working memory.
- Humans2
Effects
6Processing speed, verbal fluency, and working memory
downin humans1
1 study
Processing speed, verbal fluency, and working memory
downin humans1
Autism impairs processing speed, verbal fluency, and working memory in humans (d = -0.28 - -0.38).
Reviewautistic and neurotypical adults
Subjective and objective cognitive differences in adults in mid-life and older age with autism or high autistic traits: a systematic review and meta-analysis · Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 30 Sep 2026
Subjective cognitive difficulty
upin humans1
1 study
Subjective cognitive difficulty
upin humans1
Autism increases subjective cognitive difficulty in humans (d = 0.90).
Reviewautistic and neurotypical adults
Subjective and objective cognitive differences in adults in mid-life and older age with autism or high autistic traits: a systematic review and meta-analysis · Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 30 Sep 2026
Episodic memory
downin humans1
1 study
Episodic memory
downin humans1
Autism protects against episodic memory in humans.
Humansautistic adults
Cognitive Aging Patterns in Autism: Parallel, Accelerated, or Safeguarded? · Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 22 Sep 2026
Liver SystemsAge
upin humans1
1 study
Liver SystemsAge
upin humans1
Autism increases Liver SystemsAge in humans (β = 0.58, q < .01).
Humansadjusted for age, sex, and epithelial-cell proportionsaliva
System-Specific Epigenetic Aging Signatures in Autistic Adults · bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 18 Sep 2026 · Preprint
Blood SystemsAge
upin humans1
1 study
Blood SystemsAge
upin humans1
Autism increases Blood SystemsAge in humans (β = 0.65, q < .01).
Humansadjusted for age, sex, and epithelial-cell proportionsaliva
System-Specific Epigenetic Aging Signatures in Autistic Adults · bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 18 Sep 2026 · Preprint
Brain SystemsAge
upin humans1
1 study
Brain SystemsAge
upin humans1
Autism increases Brain SystemsAge in humans (β = 0.81, q < .01).
Humansadjusted for age, sex, and epithelial-cell proportionsaliva
System-Specific Epigenetic Aging Signatures in Autistic Adults · bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 18 Sep 2026 · Preprint
Associations
3Executive function
downin humans1
1 study
Executive function
downin humans1
Autism is associated with executive function in humans.
Humans
Cognitive Aging Patterns in Autism: Parallel, Accelerated, or Safeguarded? · Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 22 Sep 2026
Cognitive function
no changein humans1
1 study
Cognitive function
no changein humans1
Autism is associated with cognitive function in humans.
Humansin autistic vs non-autistic adults
Cognitive Aging Patterns in Autism: Parallel, Accelerated, or Safeguarded? · Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 22 Sep 2026
Advanced paternal age
upin humans1
1 study
Advanced paternal age
upin humans1
Advanced paternal age is associated with autism in humans (1.1-3.0).
Review
Advanced Paternal Age: Implications on Fertility, Pregnancy Outcomes, and Offspring Health · The journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research · 1 Sep 2026
Trial sponsors
Company5 trialsPhase 22,358 people
Massachusetts General Hospital
2 trialsPhase 479 people
National Institute of Mental Health
2 trialsPhase 428 people
University of California, San Francisco
1 trialPhase 321 people
1 trialPhase 2/332 people
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
1 trialPhase 248 people
1 trialPhase 242 people
1 trialPhase 213 people
Funding
National Institute on AgingUS$933.3kNational Institute of Mental HealthUS$93.6k4 grants since 2025
Brain Aging in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder
National Institute of Mental HealthUniversity of California at DavisUS$43.5k2025–2027
The Role of Autism Risk Genes in Cognitive and Brain Aging Outcomes of Autistic Adults
National Institute of Mental HealthArizona State University-tempe CampusUS$50.1k2025–2028
Longitudinal hippocampal and cognitive changes in autism spectrum disorder
National Institute on AgingUniversity of UtahUS$308k2026–2028
National Institute on AgingIcahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiUS$625.3k2026–2030
Latest
15Reinforcement learning alerts to Alzheimer's 20.9 months early
A reinforcement learning model alerted to Alzheimer's disease 20.9 months before diagnosis and autism 8.7 months before diagnosis, both at 90%…A reinforcement learning model alerted to Alzheimer's disease 20.9 months before diagnosis and autism 8.7 months before diagnosis, both at 90% specificity.