BDIL’s Research Studies Featured on SDSU’s News Center

“SDSU psychologist Axel Müller directs the university’s Brain Development Imaging Lab. Since he joined the university 17 years ago, he has brought in $10 million in research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explore how connections between cells in the brains of typically developing children differ from those with autism spectrum disorder….”

New Journal Article Featured on Spectrum News

“More than half of children diagnosed with autism take psychotropic drugs, such as Prozac and Ritalin, to ease features related to autism. The drugs are designed to alter brain function, so it is reasonable to assume they also affect how different parts of the brain interact….”

BDIL Findings on Brain Folding Featured in Scientific American

Brains of children with autism fold differently than those of their typical peers. Whether they are unusually smooth or convoluted depends on location and age.

 

Viewpoint Article Published on Spectrum News

“A foremost clinical goal in autism research is, therefore, not so much to find the cause and the treatment for the condition, but to find out whether there are biologically distinct types of autism, each potentially treatable in a different way. Consequently, we need to understand whether neuroscientific results tell us something important about ‘autisms’ and their differences — as opposed to findings that only reflect differences in the way we conduct our studies…”

BDIL Findings Featured on Huffington Post

“In a study that sheds light on the way brain development gives rise to autism symptoms, neuropsychologists at San Diego State University found that the autistic brain is less likely to specialize between brain hemispheres. In other words, while most people rely more heavily on the right side of their brains, in the case of autism, the right hemisphere is less well-developed…”

Media Coverage & Press

2023

SDSU Psychology News: “Master’s student Judy Mahmalji awarded at S3

SDSU Psychology News: “Judy Mahmalji, CSU Grad Slam research competition winner

The Transmitter Spectrum Perspectives: “Ruth Carper: Imaging the aging brain in autistic adults

2022

SDSU Psychology News: “A link between sleep and autism?

The Transmitter Spectrum News: “Reactions from Neuroscience 2022

2021

The Transmitter Spectrum News: “Brain’s sensory switchboard has complex connections to autism

2020

Spectrum News: “Sensory networks overconnected early in autism” 

Spectrum News: “Visual, sensory brain regions in autistic children may have weak links

2019

Spectrum News: “Can we ‘see’ autism in the brain?”

2018

SDSU News Center: “Autism Center Answers Growing Need for Community Services

Spectrum News: “Language differences underlie distinct subgroups in autism

KPBS Radio: “What Learning Looks Like: Decoding Social Cues On The Autism Spectrum

2017

SDSU News Center: “Perspectives on Autism

Spectrum News: “Autism drugs may alter brain connectivity.”

Spectrum Viewpoint: “Choice of method may influence brain imaging results in autism.”

2016

Neuroscience News: “Brain Connections Show More Symmetry Between Hemispheres in People With Autism.

Huffington Post: “The Brain Difference That Allows People With Autism To Pick Up Tiny Details.”

Big Think: “The Surprising Symmetry of Brains on the Autism Spectrum.”

Spectrum News: “Brain connectivity fluctuates over time in autism.”

Spectrum News: “Sight may mix with sound in autism brains.”

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): “Less division of labor in the brains of people with autism.

2015

Fine Magazine: “What Causes Autism: SDSU Professor Hopes to Find a Cure.

KPBS: “SDSU Study Aims to Shed Light on Adults with Autism.

San Diego 6CW TV Live Interview: “Brain Connections And Autism: New Discoveries by SDSU Researchers”

2014

Neuroscientist News: Autism’s early neuronal ‘neighborhood.’

2013

SFARI: “Autism Brains Marked by Weak Local Connections, Study Says.

Autism Speaks: “Study Links Autism to Impaired Brain Relay Station.

KPBS: “Abnormal Brain Connections Found in Children with Autism.

Discover: “Brains of Autistic Children Are Surprisingly Hyper-Connected.

SFARI: “Autism Brains Are Overly Connected, Studies Find.

 

Invited Presentations

 

September 2016, Invited Talk, Ralph-Axel Müller: “Disconnections in autism: Imaging, individuals & interventions”. John D. Wiley Seminar Series, Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

April 2016, Invited Talk, Ralph-Axel Müller: “Neuroimaging in autism: From Biomarkers to Treatment”. New York University Langone Medical Center.

November 2015, Invited Talk, Ralph-Axel Müller: “Brain network connectivity in autism”. Autism Tree Project Foundation Inaugural Neuroscience Conference. Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, La Jolla CA.

May 2015, Invited Talk, Ralph-Axel Müller, “Brain connectivity in autism: The search for biomarkers and subtypes.” Grand Rounds, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Detroit.

May 2015, Invited Talk, Ralph-Axel Müller: “Brain network organization in autism spectrum disorders”. 38th Annual Meadow Brook Lecture in Medicine and Surgery (Rochester, MI). Wayne State University, Oakland University, Southeast Michigan Center for Medical Education.

November 2014, Invited Talk, Ralph-Axel Müller: “Network imaging, biomarkers, genes, interventions: Laundry list or action plan?”  Autism Affinity Lecture Series, Center for Autism Research and Treatment, University of California, Los Angeles.

May, 2014, Platform Presentation, Ralph-Axel Müller: “Disrupted emergence of networks in ASD: Evidence from fcMRI and DTI”. International Meeting for Autism Research, Atlanta, GA.

April, 2014, Invited Talk, Ralph-Axel Müller: “More or less atypical – Brain network connectivity in autism.” MIND Institute, UC Davis 

March, 2014, Invited Talk, Ralph-Axel Müller: “Impairments of brain network connectivity in autism.” Bioconference Live – Neuroscience 

April, 2013. Ralph-Axel Müller: “Hypo or hyper? The hype and promise of connectivity research in ASD.” Rose F. Kennedy Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC). Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York.

October 2012. Ralph-Axel Müller: “fMRI approaches to network connectivity in autism spectrum disorders.” Clinical and Translational Research Institute and Center for Functional MRI Symposium, UCSD.