Publications by authors named "Rachel Earl"

This preliminary study sought to assess biomarkers of attention using electroencephalography (EEG) and eye tracking in two ultra-rare monogenic populations associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Relative to idiopathic ASD (n = 12) and neurotypical comparison (n = 49) groups, divergent attention profiles were observed for the monogenic groups, such that individuals with DYRK1A (n = 9) exhibited diminished auditory attention condition differences during an oddball EEG paradigm whereas individuals with SCN2A (n = 5) exhibited diminished visual attention condition differences noted by eye gaze tracking when viewing social interactions. Findings provide initial support for alignment of auditory and visual attention markers in idiopathic ASD and neurotypical development but not monogenic groups.

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Specialized multidisciplinary supports are important for long-term outcomes for autistic youth. Although family and child factors predict service utilization in autism, little is known with respect to youth with rare, autism-associated genetic variants, who frequently have increased psychiatric, developmental, and behavioral needs. We investigate the impact of family factors on service utilization to determine whether caregiver (autistic features, education, income) and child (autistic features, sex, age, IQ, co-occurring conditions) factors predicted service type (e.

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Background: Neurodevelopmental conditions such as intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can stem from a broad array of inherited and de novo genetic differences, with marked physiological and behavioral impacts. We currently know little about the psychiatric phenotypes of rare genetic variants associated with ASD, despite heightened risk of psychiatric concerns in ASD more broadly. Understanding behavioral features of these variants can identify shared versus specific phenotypes across gene groups, facilitate mechanistic models, and provide prognostic insights to inform clinical practice.

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Autistic and comparison individuals differ in resting-state electroencephalography (EEG), such that sex and age explain variability within and between groups. Pubertal maturation and timing may further explain variation, as previous work has suggested alterations in pubertal timing in autistic youth. In a sample from two studies of 181 autistic and 94 comparison youth (8 years to 17 years and 11 months), mixed-effects linear regressions were conducted to assess differences in EEG (midline power for theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands).

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Likely gene-disrupting (LGD) variants in DYRK1A are causative of DYRK1A syndrome and associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID). While many individuals with DYRK1A syndrome are diagnosed with ASD, they may present with a unique profile of ASD traits. We present a comprehensive characterization of the ASD profile in children and young adults with LGDs in DYRK1A.

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We aimed to identify unique constellations of sensory phenotypes for genetic etiologies associated with diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID). Caregivers reported on sensory behaviors via the Sensory Profile for 290 participants (younger than 25 years of age) with ASD and/or ID diagnoses, of which ~ 70% have a known pathogenic genetic etiology. Caregivers endorsed poor registration (i.

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Background: Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by deficits in social communication and restricted or repetitive behaviors. Due to the extremely high genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity, it is critical to pinpoint the genetic factors for understanding the pathology of these disorders.

Methods: We analyzed the exomes generated by the SPARK (Simons Powering Autism Research) project and performed a meta-analysis with previous data.

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Stress granules (SGs) are cytoplasmic assemblies in response to a variety of stressors. We report a new neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) with common features of language problems, intellectual disability, and behavioral issues caused by de novo likely gene-disruptive variants in , which encodes an essential regulator of SG assembly. haploinsufficiency in mouse led to social and cognitive impairments accompanied by disrupted neurogenesis and reduced SG formation during early brain development.

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) represents a group of neurodevelopmental phenotypes with a strong genetic component. An excess of likely gene-disruptive (LGD) mutations in GIGYF1 was implicated in ASD. Here, we report that GIGYF1 is the second-most mutated gene among known ASD high-confidence risk genes.

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Purpose: Genome-wide sequencing is increasingly being performed during pregnancy to identify the genetic cause of congenital anomalies. The interpretation of prenatally identified variants can be challenging and is hampered by our often limited knowledge of prenatal phenotypes. To better delineate the prenatal phenotype of Coffin-Siris syndrome (CSS), we collected clinical data from patients with a prenatal phenotype and a pathogenic variant in one of the CSS-associated genes.

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Rare genomic disorders (RGDs) confer elevated risk for neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders. In this era of intense genomics discoveries, the landscape of RGDs is rapidly evolving. However, there has not been comparable progress to date in scalable, harmonized phenotyping methods.

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PAX5 is a transcription factor associated with abnormal posterior midbrain and cerebellum development in mice. PAX5 is highly loss-of-function intolerant and missense constrained, and has been identified as a candidate gene for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We describe 16 individuals from 12 families who carry deletions involving PAX5 and surrounding genes, de novo frameshift variants that are likely to trigger nonsense-mediated mRNA decay, a rare stop-gain variant, or missense variants that affect conserved amino acid residues.

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Background: Dysmenorrhoea (period pain) is a common condition with a substantial impact on the well-being and productivity of women. Primary dysmenorrhoea is defined as recurrent, cramping pelvic pain that occurs with periods, in the presence of a normal uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes. It is thought to be caused by uterine contractions (cramps) associated with a high level of production of local chemicals such as prostaglandins.

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Background: The fetal occiput transverse position in the second stage of labor is associated with adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes. Prophylactic manual rotation in the second stage of labor is considered a safe and easy to perform procedure that has been used to prevent operative deliveries.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the efficacy of prophylactic manual rotation in the management of the occiput transverse position for preventing operative delivery.

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Autism is a highly heritable complex disorder in which de novo mutation (DNM) variation contributes significantly to risk. Using whole-genome sequencing data from 3,474 families, we investigate another source of large-effect risk variation, ultra-rare variants. We report and replicate a transmission disequilibrium of private, likely gene-disruptive (LGD) variants in probands but find that 95% of this burden resides outside of known DNM-enriched genes.

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Sleep disturbances in autism and neurodevelopmental disorders are common and adversely affect patient's quality of life, yet the underlying mechanisms are understudied. We found that individuals with mutations in , among the highest-confidence autism risk genes, or suffer from disturbed sleep maintenance. These defects are recapitulated in mutants affecting , the sole ortholog.

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Article Synopsis
  • Sleep difficulties are common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), particularly in those with likely gene-disrupting (dnLGD) mutations, yet the connection between genetic factors and sleep issues remains unclear.
  • A study involving 2,886 families identified four main sleep problem areas: sleep onset, breathing issues, nighttime awakenings, and daytime tiredness, finding that sleep onset was a key issue for both genetically affected and idiopathic ASD groups.
  • The research suggests that internalizing behavioral problems and lower cognitive abilities are linked to increased sleep difficulties, with distinct patterns of sleep issues observed in different genetic subgroups of children with ASD.
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Background: With the increasing number of genomic sequencing studies, hundreds of genes have been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). The rate of gene discovery far outpaces our understanding of genotype-phenotype correlations, with clinical characterization remaining a bottleneck for understanding NDDs. Most disease-associated Mendelian genes are members of gene families, and we hypothesize that those with related molecular function share clinical presentations.

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Deletion 1p36 (del1p36) syndrome is the most common human disorder resulting from a terminal autosomal deletion. This condition is molecularly and clinically heterogeneous. Deletions involving two non-overlapping regions, known as the distal (telomeric) and proximal (centromeric) critical regions, are sufficient to cause the majority of the recurrent clinical features, although with different facial features and dysmorphisms.

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Background: Persistent occiput posterior position in labor is associated with adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes. Prophylactic manual rotation from the occiput posterior position to the occiput anterior position in the second stage of labor is considered a safe and easy to perform procedure that in observational studies has shown promise as a method for preventing operative deliveries.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the efficacy of prophylactic manual rotation in the management of occiput posterior position for preventing operative delivery.

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Self-injurious behaviors (SIB) are elevated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related genetic disorders, but the genetic and biological mechanisms that contribute to SIB in ASD are poorly understood. This study examined rates and predictors of SIB in 112 individuals with disruptive mutations to ASD-risk genes. Current SIB were reported in 30% of participants and associated with poorer cognitive and adaptive skills.

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Most genes associated with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) were identified with an excess of de novo mutations (DNMs) but the significance in case-control mutation burden analysis is unestablished. Here, we sequence 63 genes in 16,294 NDD cases and an additional 62 genes in 6,211 NDD cases. By combining these with published data, we assess a total of 125 genes in over 16,000 NDD cases and compare the mutation burden to nonpsychiatric controls from ExAC.

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