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Principal Investigator: ANDREW L ALEXANDER
Organization: UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $2,283,568
Funding agency: National Institute of Mental Health
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong disorder that has consequences throughout adulthood. Recent
population health studies indicate that aging autistic adults have shorter life expectancy and increased rates of
physical and mental health problems. However, there is a paucity of studies that have focused on the progression
of health and wellness with aging in ASD and factors that can contribute to better or worse outcomes. In this
Autism Center of Excellence (ACE) Network project, the Interdisciplinary Science to Learn about Autism – Aging
(ISLA-A) Network will deploy a harmonized, optimized, and innovative protocol to investigate the effects of aging
in autism in one of the largest prospective longitudinal cohort studies of autistic adults to date. The aims of the
ISLA-A center are 1) to establish and follow a large cohort of autistic male and female adults, siblings and age-
and sex- matched non-autistic adults with a comprehensive harmonized research protocol to investigate multi-
modal aspects of aging, including measures of clinical severity, physical and mental health, cognitive aging,
brain structure and function, and epigenetic measures of biological aging; 2) to characterize both group and
individual age-related changes in autism severity, health, wellness and brain measures with aging; 3) to
investigate the relationships between clinical, health, and brain imaging measures; and 4) to investigate whether
biological aging is accelerated in autism using new epigenetic measures of aging. The overarching goal of the
ISLA-A Network is to create a comprehensive, harmonized, and high-dimensional dataset that will characterize
trajectories of aging in autism that may be used to investigate whether early or accelerated aging is a hallmark
feature of autism, and how aging in autism influences health and brain outcomes. The inclusion of siblings, who
share genetics with the autistic adult cohort, will help to identify autism-specific factors related to aging and
outcomes. The ISLA-A study results will identify candidate factors that are predictive to autism aging outcomes
and will guide the development of interventions and services to improve outcomes. This new large, multi-modal,
longitudinal, and generalizable dataset will be shared with the autism research community for independent
studies. Overall, the ISLA-A Network study will generate a rich, high-impact resource for better understanding of
aging in autism, with the ultimate goal of improving the health and support of autistic adults.
Terms: <21+ years old><65 and older><65 or older><65 years of age and older><65 years of age or more><65 years of age or older><65+ years><65+ years old><> 65 years><ASD><Acceleration><Adult><Adult Human><Adult females><Adult women><Affect><Age><Age Years><Aged 65 and Over><Aging><Amentia><Autism><Autistic Disorder><Biological Aging><Brain><Brain Nervous System><Brain imaging><Clinical><Cognitive Disturbance><Cognitive Impairment><Cognitive aging><Cognitive decline><Cognitive function abnormal><Communities><DNA><DNA Methylation><Data><Data Bases><Data Coordinating Center><Data Coordination Center><Data Set><Databases><Dementia><Deoxyribonucleic Acid><Disease><Disorder><Disturbance in cognition><Early Infantile Autism><Encephalon><Enrollment><Epigenetic><Epigenetic Change><Epigenetic Mechanism><Epigenetic Process><Family Medical History><Family Medical History Epidemiology><Family history of><Females in adulthood><Foundations><Genetic><Genetic Processes><Goals><Health><Health Promotion><Impaired cognition><Individual><Individual Differences><Infantile Autism><Kanner's Syndrome><Learning><Life Expectancy><Life Style><Lifelong disability><Lifestyle><Long-term cohort study><Long-term prospective studies><Longitudinal Studies><Longitudinal cohort study><Longterm cohort study><Longterm prospective studies><Measurement><Measures><Mental Health><Mental Hygiene><Motor><Nerve Degeneration><Neurobiology><Neurocognition><Neurologic><Neurological><Neuron Degeneration><Older Population><Outcome><Participant><Permanent disability><Personal Satisfaction><Persons><Predictive Factor><Prevalence><Protocol><Protocols documentation><Psyche structure><Psychiatric Diagnosis><Psychological Health><Psychopathology><Reporting><Research><Research Resources><Resources><Role><Salutogenesis><Sampling><Science><Services><Severities><Siblings><Statistical Data Analyses><Statistical Data Analysis><Statistical Data Interpretation><Structure><Time><Universities><Utah><Variant><Variation><Visit><Wisconsin><Women in adulthood><abnormal psychology><above age 65><accelerated aging><accelerated biological age><accelerated biological aging><adult with ASD><adult with autism><adult with autism spectrum disorder><adult youth><adulthood><adults on the autism spectrum><adults on the spectrum><after age 65><age 65 and greater><age 65 and older><age 65 or older><age > 65><age acceleration><age associated alterations><age associated changes><age associated decline><age associated effects><age correlated alterations><age correlated changes><age dependent alterations><age dependent changes><age dependent decline><age effect><age of 65 years onward><age related alterations><age related changes><age related decline><age related effects><age specific alterations><age specific changes><aged 65 and greater><aged 65+><aged ≥65><ages><aging associated><aging effect><aging related><alterations with age><autism attributes><autism indicator><autism spectral disorder><autism spectrum disorder><autism spectrum disorder features><autism spectrum disorder indicator><autism spectrum disorder symptoms><autism symptomology><autism symptoms><autism-like symptoms><autism-related attributes><autistic><autistic adult><autistic features><autistic individuals><autistic people><autistic spectrum disorder><autistic symptoms><autistic traits><autistic-like symptoms><biological process of age><brain visualization><candidate identification><changes with age><co-morbid><co-morbid depression><co-morbid with depression><co-morbidity><co-morbidity with depression><cognitive dysfunction><cognitive function><cognitive loss><cohort><comorbid depression><comorbid with depression><comorbidity><comorbidity with depression><curating data><data base><data curation><data management and coordinating center><data management center><decline with age><depression co-morbidity><depression comorbidity><develop therapy><enroll><epigenetically><functional disability><healthy aging><healthy human aging><high dimensional data><human old age (65+)><imaging study><impact of age><improved><improved outcome><individuals on the autism spectrum><individuals on the spectrum><individuals with ASD><individuals with autism><individuals with autism spectrum disorder><influence of age><innovate><innovation><innovative><intervention development><long-term study><longitudinal outcome studies><longitudinal, prospective study><longterm study><male><mental><motor disease><motor disorder><motor dysfunction><multi-modality><multidimensional data><multidimensional datasets><multimodality><neural degeneration><neural imaging><neuro-imaging><neurobiological><neurodegeneration><neurodegenerative><neuroimaging><neurological degeneration><neurological imaging><neuronal degeneration><old age><older adult><older adulthood><older groups><older individuals><older person><over 65 years><people on the autism spectrum><people with ASD><people with autism><people with autism spectrum disorder><physical conditioning><physical health><polygenic risk score><population health><promoting health><prospective><psychiatric co-morbidity><psychiatric comorbidity><recruit><research study><resilience><resilient><sex><social role><statistical analysis><therapy development><treatment development><well-being><wellbeing><young adult><young adulthood><≥65 years>