Varun Warrier
vw1234.bsky.social
Varun Warrier
@vw1234.bsky.social
Interested in genetics, development, and brain. Associate prof of neurodev. research at Cambridge.
This was a fantastic collaboration with lots of people including @hilarycmartin.bsky.social @jakobgrove.bsky.social, Experts by Experience, and several others who I can't seem to find on this app.

Article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Polygenic and developmental profiles of autism differ by age at diagnosis - Nature
A study of several longitudinal birth cohorts and cross-sectional cohorts finds only moderate overlap in genetic variants between autism that is diagnosed earlier and that diagnosed later, so they may represent aetiologically different conditions.
www.nature.com
October 1, 2025 at 4:05 PM
I add that earlier and later diagnosed autism are not valid diagnostic terms and what we are looking at is (one) gradient. Also genetics explains only a fraction of the variance, with most studied factors explaining < 10%. We have FAQs in the Supplementary where we address common questions.
October 1, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Furthermore, the later diagnosed autism genetic factor is genetically more correlated with ADHD, depression, and PTSD, suggested complex gene-environment correlations and an urgent need for support.
October 1, 2025 at 4:05 PM
In work led by the talented Xinhe Zhang out today in Nature, we challenge this idea. We show the developmental and genetic profile of autism differs substantially by age at diagnosis. Later diagnosed autism is not a milder version, but a different version who need acceptance and support.
October 1, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Ah yes, of course! I agree :)
September 23, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Although, there is a lot of genetic confounding with parental age associations: increased genetic likelihood for autism -> finding a partner later in life -> having children later in life.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27213288/
Risk of psychiatric illness from advanced paternal age is not predominantly from de novo mutations - PubMed
The offspring of older fathers have higher risk of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and autism. Paternal-age-related de novo mutations are widely assumed to be the underlying causal mechani...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
September 23, 2025 at 9:03 AM