When we think about autism spectrum disorder, we often think of children. But ASD isn’t new. It was formally recognized in 1980, which means those who received a diagnosis then are now middle-aged. We talk to an expert who is looking at a link between autism and Alzheimer’s disease.
Blair Braden is an associate professor in the College of Health Solutions at ASU. She’s also the director of the Autism and Brain Aging Laboratory — her job is to study aging outcomes in that population.
"It's not a big study in terms of sample size because it's really hard to find these middle-aged and older autistic adults," explains Braden. "Most of them, the autism diagnosis didn't exist when they were kids."
Braden says of the 200 study participants, between the ages of 40 and 65, half have ASD — the other half don’t.
"From a cognitive perspective, we see that some of our older autistic adults are experiencing memory decline at a faster rate than their non-autistic counterparts."
Braden says there are lots of factors at play, from genetics to life experiences that can put a person at risk, including trouble sleeping as well as depression or anxiety.
Braden says if the research can successfully identify a profile of those most at risk for Alzheimer’s, then early interventions can be provided — so they can maintain the highest quality of life possible.
People can visit the Autism and Brain Aging Lab website to learn more about Braden's research.
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We are talking less now than we used to. That’s the finding of a study done by Matthias Mehl, a social psychologist and professor at the University of Arizona. -
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