ScienceDaily article on propranolol for autism research - University of Missouri

[Guest guest]

Btw their original study was on high functioning teenagers and adults only. They don't mention inclusion criteria for the bigger follow up study http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110929152058.htm#.ToWccTdzL7o.twitterPromising Drug Treatment for Improving Language, Social Function in People With AutismScienceDaily (Sep. 29, 2011) — Most drug therapy interventions for people with autism have targeted psychiatric problems, including aggression, anxiety and obsessive behavior. Now, University of Missouri researchers are examining the use of propranolol (a drug used to treat high blood pressure and control heart rate as well

as to reduce test anxiety) to improve the primary traits associated with autism -- difficulty with normal social skills, language and repetitive behaviors. MU researchers say the drug is a promising new avenue for improving language and social function."We can clearly say that propranolol has the potential to benefit language and may help people with autism function appropriately in social situations, including making eye contact with others," said

Beversdorf, associate professor and Endowed Chair at the MU Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. "Enhancing both language and social function is significant because those are two of the three main features of autism. Clinical trials will assess the drug's effect on all three features, including repetitive behaviors."Propranolol has been used for decades with minimal side effects reported in healthy individuals. The MU researchers are the first to study the benefits of the drug in autism in a controlled manner. The next step is to conduct clinical trials to determine if the benefits are

sustained over time and if the benefits outweigh other effects.Propranolol acts by reducing the effect of norepinephrine brought on by stress in order to allow the brain to function as if there is no stress. This is beneficial for persons who have trouble with test taking. In people with autism, the brain is hardwired in a different way, making processing more rigid in terms of social function and language. The researchers think that the drug acts on these hardwired processes and therefore, improves tasks and functioning in these areas."When healthy persons are under stress their neurons fire in an expedited manner, to respond quickly to the stressor, that does not allow input from remote sources," Beversdorf said. "Unfortunately when trying to solve difficult problems, we need information from remote sources. For example, if we come in contact with a tiger, we are programmed to respond quickly and run away. However, this fight or flight response isn't as helpful in today's society because instead of facing a tiger, we are taking an exam or giving a speech. Evidence suggests that individuals with autism have a similar difficulty accessing input from remote sources regardless of the presence of stress

when using language and communicating."In previous studies, the researchers found that propranolol helped people with autism solve simple anagrams, word unscrambling tasks. It also increased semantic word fluency, which requires understanding the definition of words and connectivity among different brain regions. It did not help with letter fluency, which involves identifying words that start with specific letters and requires less distributed connectivity among brain regions."We are interested to see if we can predict who will or will not respond to this drug among those with autism," Beversdorf said. "In the follow-up study, we're looking at markers of increased stress reactivity. If we find that those with higher stress reactivity are more

sensitive to the effects of propranolol, it might help to identify who will benefit most from the drug."Beversdorf is a physician and faculty member at MU in the departments

of Radiology, Neurology and Psychological Sciences. The study, "Effect of Propranolol on Word Fluency in Autism," was published in Cognitive and Behavior Neurology.

[Guest guest]

Fascinating. Hadn't heard of this one."We are interested to see if we can predict who will or will not respond to this drug among those with autism," Beversdorf said. I'd be very much interested in this, too.

~Antiviral Therapy 101~ gryffinstail.wordpress.com/ ~~ @Gryffins_Tail ~

Btw their original study was on high functioning teenagers and adults only. They don't mention inclusion criteria for the bigger follow up study http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110929152058.htm#.ToWccTdzL7o.twitterPromising Drug Treatment for Improving Language, Social Function in People With AutismScienceDaily (Sep. 29, 2011) — Most drug therapy interventions for people with autism have targeted psychiatric problems, including aggression, anxiety and obsessive behavior. Now, University of Missouri researchers are examining the use of propranolol (a drug used to treat high blood pressure and control heart rate as well

as to reduce test anxiety) to improve the primary traits associated with autism -- difficulty with normal social skills, language and repetitive behaviors. MU researchers say the drug is a promising new avenue for improving language and social function."We can clearly say that propranolol has the potential to benefit language and may help people with autism function appropriately in social situations, including making eye contact with others," said

Beversdorf, associate professor and Endowed Chair at the MU Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. "Enhancing both language and social function is significant because those are two of the three main features of autism. Clinical trials will assess the drug's effect on all three features, including repetitive behaviors."Propranolol has been used for decades with minimal side effects reported in healthy individuals. The MU researchers are the first to study the benefits of the drug in autism in a controlled manner. The next step is to conduct clinical trials to determine if the benefits are

sustained over time and if the benefits outweigh other effects.Propranolol acts by reducing the effect of norepinephrine brought on by stress in order to allow the brain to function as if there is no stress. This is beneficial for persons who have trouble with test taking. In people with autism, the brain is hardwired in a different way, making processing more rigid in terms of social function and language. The researchers think that the drug acts on these hardwired processes and therefore, improves tasks and functioning in these areas."When healthy persons are under stress their neurons fire in an expedited manner, to respond quickly to the stressor, that does not allow input from remote sources," Beversdorf said. "Unfortunately when trying to solve difficult problems, we need information from remote sources. For example, if we come in contact with a tiger, we are programmed to respond quickly and run away. However, this fight or flight response isn't as helpful in today's society because instead of facing a tiger, we are taking an exam or giving a speech. Evidence suggests that individuals with autism have a similar difficulty accessing input from remote sources regardless of the presence of stress

when using language and communicating."In previous studies, the researchers found that propranolol helped people with autism solve simple anagrams, word unscrambling tasks. It also increased semantic word fluency, which requires understanding the definition of words and connectivity among different brain regions. It did not help with letter fluency, which involves identifying words that start with specific letters and requires less distributed connectivity among brain regions."In the follow-up study, we're looking at markers of increased stress reactivity. If we find that those with higher stress reactivity are more

sensitive to the effects of propranolol, it might help to identify who will benefit most from the drug."Beversdorf is a physician and faculty member at MU in the departments

of Radiology, Neurology and Psychological Sciences. The study, "Effect of Propranolol on Word Fluency in Autism," was published in Cognitive and Behavior Neurology.

[Guest guest]

my feeling is they will focus on higher functioning (ie repeat of the

same tests on larger cohort and for longer periods), so we might not

know ... Also there are already several other small scale studies out

there, by other teams, that used other single measures, like eye

contact, and recorded very good improvements ! Again on high functioning

adults.

Having said that there are many case studies involving more severe ASD,

both kids and adults, where propranolol was given for rages, aggression,

self harm etc, and again the results were often amazing. It worked for

those things but also improved social side etc. Will post some.

Natasa

>

> >

> > Btw their original study was on high functioning teenagers and

adults only. They don't mention inclusion criteria for the bigger follow

up study

> >

> >

> >

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110929152058.htm#.ToWccTdzL\

7o.twitter

> >

> > Promising Drug Treatment for Improving Language, Social Function in

People With Autism

> >

> > ScienceDaily (Sep. 29, 2011) — Most drug therapy interventions

for people with autism have targeted psychiatric problems, including

aggression, anxiety and obsessive behavior. Now, University of Missouri

researchers are examining the use of propranolol (a drug used to treat

high blood pressure and control heart rate as well as to reduce test

anxiety) to improve the primary traits associated with autism --

difficulty with normal social skills, language and repetitive behaviors.

MU researchers say the drug is a promising new avenue for improving

language and social function.

> >

> > " We can clearly say that propranolol has the potential to benefit

language and may help people with autism function appropriately in

social situations, including making eye contact with others, " said

Beversdorf, associate professor and Endowed Chair at the MU

Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. " Enhancing

both language and social function is significant because those are two

of the three main features of autism. Clinical trials will assess the

drug's effect on all three features, including repetitive behaviors. "

> > Propranolol has been used for decades with minimal side effects

reported in healthy individuals. The MU researchers are the first to

study the benefits of the drug in autism in a controlled manner. The

next step is to conduct clinical trials to determine if the benefits are

sustained over time and if the benefits outweigh other effects.

> > Propranolol acts by reducing the effect of norepinephrine brought on

by stress in order to allow the brain to function as if there is no

stress. This is beneficial for persons who have trouble with test

taking. In people with autism, the brain is hardwired in a different

way, making processing more rigid in terms of social function and

language. The researchers think that the drug acts on these hardwired

processes and therefore, improves tasks and functioning in these areas.

> > " When healthy persons are under stress their neurons fire in an

expedited manner, to respond quickly to the stressor, that does not

allow input from remote sources, " Beversdorf said. " Unfortunately when

trying to solve difficult problems, we need information from remote

sources. For example, if we come in contact with a tiger, we are

programmed to respond quickly and run away. However, this fight or

flight response isn't as helpful in today's society because instead of

facing a tiger, we are taking an exam or giving a speech. Evidence

suggests that individuals with autism have a similar difficulty

accessing input from remote sources regardless of the presence of stress

when using language and communicating. "

> > In previous studies, the researchers found that propranolol helped

people with autism solve simple anagrams, word unscrambling tasks. It

also increased semantic word fluency, which requires understanding the

definition of words and connectivity among different brain regions. It

did not help with letter fluency, which involves identifying words that

start with specific letters and requires less distributed connectivity

among brain regions.

> > " In the follow-up study, we're looking at markers of increased

stress reactivity. If we find that those with higher stress reactivity

are more sensitive to the effects of propranolol, it might help to

identify who will benefit most from the drug. "

> > Beversdorf is a physician and faculty member at MU in the

departments of Radiology, Neurology and Psychological Sciences. The

study, " Effect of Propranolol on Word Fluency in Autism, " was published

in Cognitive and Behavior Neurology.

> >

> >

>