28. Autism-like Traits and Sleep Apnea

Lab Rat Chat - Episode 28 with Dr. Amanda Vanderplow

In this episode of Lab Rat Chat, Danielle and Jeff chat with Dr. Amanda Vanderplow, a PhD research scientist in the Cahill Lab of Neuroscience Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.   She studies dendritic spine plasticity and how synaptic alterations contribute to neuropsychiatric disorders.  In other words, she much smarter than the rest of us.  One of her current research projects discovers a potential link between sleep apnea and autism-like behaviors. This could be one of those breakthrough discoveries that allows us to prevent and/or reduce the rising prevalence of autism-like behaviors in society today, and we have Dr. Vanderplow, her team, and her rats, to thank for discovering this link.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Dr. Vanderplow's extensive and impressive background and her journey to get where she's at in her career today.
• What sleep apnea is and how prevalent the disorder is in society; the numbers will shock you.
• How a rat sleep apnea model was developed and how the data regarding autism-like behaviors in animals translate into the human world.
• The future application of this research and her recent discoveries

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Resources & Links:

• Cahill Lab of Neuroscience Research – UW–Madison (wisc.edu)
• Mothers' sleep apnea may increase risk of autism-like changes in their male offspring (medicalxpress.com)
• Americans for Medical Progress
• Americans for Medical Progress COVID-19 Resources

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