Category Archives: News

Men and Women show surprising differences in seeing motion

News

The Bernier lab and the Murray Lab recently published an article in Current Biology title ‘Sex Differences in Visual Motion Processing.’  Below is a summary from the article, and links to different news article which came out today that discuss the findings.

Summary

The importance of sex as a biological variable has recently been emphasized by major funding organizations [1] and within the neuroscience community [2]. Critical sex-based neural differences are indicated by, for example, conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that have a strong sex bias with a higher prevalence among males [51, 3]. Motivated by this broader context, we report a marked sex difference in a visual motion perception task among neurotypical adults. Motion duration thresholds [4, 5]—the minimum duration needed to accurately perceive motion direction—were considerably shorter for males than females. We replicated this result across three laboratories and 263 total participants. This type of enhanced performance has previously been observed only in special populations including ASD, depression, and senescence [6, 7, 8]. The observed sex difference cannot be explained by general differences in speed of visual processing, overall visual discrimination abilities, or potential motor-related differences. We also show that while individual differences in motion duration thresholds are associated with differences in fMRI responsiveness of human MT+, surprisingly, MT+ response magnitudes did not differ between males and females. Thus, we reason that sex differences in motion perception are not captured by an MT+ fMRI measure that predicts within-sex individual differences in perception. Overall, these results show how sex differences can manifest unexpectedly, highlighting the importance of sex as a factor in the design and analysis of perceptual and cognitive studies.

News articles discussing these research findings:

Journal Reference:

  1. Scott O. Murray, Michael-Paul Schallmo, Tamar Kolodny, Rachel Millin, Alex Kale, Philipp Thomas, Thomas H. Rammsayer, Stefan J. Troche, Raphael A. Bernier, Duje Tadin. Sex Differences in Visual Motion Processing. Current Biology, 2018; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.06.014

The State of Research on the Genetics of ASD

Bernier Lab, News, Research

The Bernier Lab’s Dr. Anne Arnett, Sandy Trinh, and Dr. Rapahel Bernier recently published an article titled ‘The state of research on the genetics of autism spectrum disorder: methodological, clinical and conceptual progress‘ in Psychology (Volume 27, June 2019, 1-5).

In this article, members of the Bernier Lab summarize the progress we have made in parsing the heterogeneity of ASD through genetics research. In our genotype-first approach, we have begun to identify genetics based subtypes of ASD. The utility of identifying these subtypes ranges from identifying critical gene and protein networks, to implications for pharmacological interventions for ASD. In short, we have made a lot of progress in the recent decades and the Bernier Lab is working together with some other fantastic investigators to execute cutting-edge research on ASD.

Welcoming the 2018 Special Olympics USA National Games to Seattle!

Bernier Lab, Events, News, Play, Rab Lab

This week, over 4,000 athletes and coaches traveled from all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia to compete in events at the 2018 Special Olympics USA National Games, hosted in Seattle, WA. After beginning on July 1st, the USA National Games are now on the fourth day of events.

Founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1968, the first International Special Olympics Summer Games were held in Chicago. The Games hosted about 1,000 athletes in more than 200 events. Now, 50 years later, the Special Olympics boasts over 5.3 million athletes from 170 countries. The Special Olympics exists to provide year-round sports training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, while also continuing their opportunities to develop physical fitness, gain courage, experience joy, and to share their skills with their families, teammates, and communities.

The Special Olympics USA National Games, part of the Special Olympics Movement, hope to use the joy of sports and competition as a catalyst to create social change and to promote a more inclusive community. In May of 2015, the local Special Olympics Washington was awarded the bid to host the 4th quadrennial USA National Games. Of the 4,000 athletes competing in this year’s USA National Games, more than 300 of them are represented by Special Olympics Washington – the largest delegation among state programs.

The University of Washington (UW), along with Seattle University and Seattle Pacific University, is proudly hosting events on its campus, including Powerlifting, Track & Field, and Tennis. This year, staff from the UW Center on Human Development and Disability (CHDD), where UW’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC), University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (UCEDD), and Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) programs are based, happily came out to support the athletes and teams at several events as volunteers.

Jen Gerdts, PhD, UW LEND Director, attended Day 2 of the events

As “Fans in the Stands” volunteers, CHDD staff, including members of the UW Bernier Lab and UW LEND, cheered on the various competing teams, helping to foster a positive and competitive atmosphere for the events and athletes. Announcers politely asked spectators to refrain from booing and yelling, but heavily encouraged them to scream with excitement for all players.

For CHDD staff, volunteering as “Fans in the Stands” was a fun way to support the hardworking athletes during the Special Olympics. Staff, interns, and directors alike all watched excitedly and clapped alongside fans from Minnesota and Florida during the flag football game, and chanted along with the team from Minnesota after their loss, helping to keep spirits high. They also had the opportunity to support the WA women’s basketball team from the local Special Olympics branch and their competitors from the Texas women’s team. Overall, the USA National Games in Seattle are shaping up to be an exciting week of events!

Members of the UW Bernier Lab at CHDD are excited to support the Seattle Games!

 

Written by: Daniel Cho, Research Assistant

The NAA15 Gene Mutation

News, Research

Gholson Lyon, assistant professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York found a strong connection between mutations in the NAA15 gene, a protein modifier, and neurodevelopmental delays. Lyon and his team identified 38 people with a harmful NAA15 mutation, 24 of which had autism features and 23 had an intellectual disability. This finding is consistent with a previous global NAA15 sequencing study of more than 13,000 people where 13 individuals were identified with a NAA15 mutation. By comparing genotypes with clinical behavior, the researchers found evidence of motor delays and congenital heart defects. Thus, it is critical for autism treatment and intervention to continue to identify patterns in behavior related to mutations in the NAA15 gene. 

A recent publication by Hanyin Chengin, et al, in the American Journal of Human Genetics, and co-authored by the Bernier Lab’s Dr. Raphe Bernier and Dr. Jen Beighley, discusses the truncating variants of the NAA15 gene and its association with ASD, ID and congenital anomalies.

Read the full spectrum news article here.