Cerebrum Podcast: Examining the causes of Autism

3rd Mar 2017

In this months Cerebrum podcast, David G. Amaral, Ph.D., the Beneto Foundation Chair and Research Director of the MIND Institute at UC Davis, and the university’s Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, discusses the rising number of infants with autism, advances in early diagnosis, and what researchers hope to uncover in the next few years. Amaral also touches on what inspired him to focus on autism research, some of the research challenges unique to autism, and his views on gene modification.

In this podcast, Amaral explains his reasoning behind the conclusions, that people are born with autism, and explores a whole range of other issues: the challenges of autism research, what inspired him to focus on the disorder, his thoughts on gene modification, environmental factors pregnant mothers may wish to avoid, why it is important for autistic adults to find their place in communities, and more.

The podcast is available to everyone via Soundcloud, and is 55 minutes long.