…we found that the parvicellular reticular formation-alpha, a part of the brainstem thought to be involved in chewing, digesting food, heart rate, and breathing was related to individual differences in social communication in autistic children
Brittany Travers
When worlds collide: autism & ADHD
– “It seems like there has to be some type of biological aspect to this that we can hope to better understand through this project. Then we can better conceptualize what is co-occurring autism and ADHD and also hopefully have targets to be able to think about whether there are ways we can ameliorate some of those features,” Travers says.
Brainy Movement Study for Kids (Travers)
Dr. Brittany Travers and the Motor and Brain Development Lab at the Waisman Center are recruiting children 5-13 years old for a research study that seeks to better understand how early developing brain areas may …
Advising research through the lens of lived experience: How individuals with disabilities and their families are shaping research
NOTE: Each individual interviewed for this story stated their preference between person-first or identity-first language. The language used reflects the preference of each person. Researchers interviewed use identity-first language in alignment with the preferences of …
Fulbright takes Waisman worldwide: Three Waisman researchers awarded Fulbrights to expand research on a global scale
One Waisman Center investigator and two graduate students awarded Fulbright scholarships
Brittany G. Travers, PhD – Slide of the Week
We want to better understand how autistic children with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) differed in their motor skills, sensory features, and daily living skills.
At UW-Madison, autistic students navigate personal, classroom obstacles
There are 99 UW-Madison students on the autism spectrum, according to the McBurney Disability Resource Center’s 2022-23 annual report.
New research first to test 60-year-old theory on autism
Autism is often associated with complex tasks like social processing and language and the later-developing brain regions that control them. But what if autism is more rooted in the earliest developing and most reflex-like part of the brain – the brainstem?
UW LINK Study (Li and Travers)
Children between 4-7 years old with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder are invited to participate in our new study about autism and ADHD. Families will be asked to visit the Waisman Center once per …
The Waisman Center’s signature research project looks deeply at the connections between autism and ADHD
Josh loves coming to the Waisman Center. He has told his mom Julia several times that he particularly enjoys the two-day visits because he gets to spend more time at the center. His brain is special so it is cool that the scientists want to study it, he tells Julia.