Sleep in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Window to Etiology, Diagnosis and Treatment
Presidential Lectures are a series of free public colloquia spotlighting groundbreaking research across four themes: neuroscience and autism science, physics, biology, and mathematics and computer science. These curated, high-level scientific talks feature leading scientists and mathematicians and are designed to foster discussion and drive discovery within the New York City research community. We invite those interested in these topics to join us for this weekly lecture series.
Understanding sleep physiology in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) not only provides a window to the underlying etiology, it can also help characterize sub-phenotypes and offer a potent treatment approach for improving neuropsychiatric and neurocognitive function in ASD through improved sleep. Dr. Ruth O’Hara will present on the field’s current understanding of sleep in ASD: a) describing how sleep physiology in ASD differs from sleep physiology in typical developing children; b) discussing the different potential ASD phenotypes suggested by her work; and c) describing the different sleep architecture, sleep disturbances, and sleep disorders that are more prevalent in ASD than in typical developing children and which can serve as treatment targets that may in turn improve the core symptoms of ASD.