Brainpod May 2017: Arbaclofen in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a disorder that has been defined by the medical community, but so far, none of the medications available for ASD treat the core symptoms of the disease, but rather secondary symptoms such as agitation or hyperactivity. Because ASD is genetically linked to Fragile X syndrome, researchers noticed that in a mouse model, the drug arbaclofen reduced what would be core symptoms of autism, such as combatting social avoidance and improving social function. A randomized placebo-controlled trial was conducted to test this idea and the results were recently published in Neuropsychopharmacology. Listen to the latest BrainPod to hear Dr. Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele discuss these results! Article: Arbaclofen in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized, Controlled, Phase 2 Trial https://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v42/n7/full/npp2016237a.html