The Mitochondria in a Minute

About this episode

This episode discusses the role of mitochondria in autism and neurodevelopmental disorders with Dr. Carisa Sirois.

The word “mitochondrial deficits” gets thrown around a lot as a cause of autism, but what does this really mean? This week we interview Dr. Carisa Sirois from the University of Wisconsin, who recently published a review of how the mitochondria are involved in neurodevelopmental disorders. The ways mitochondria are involved in ASD are not simple, there are many different ways in which they affect cellular function, including genetic variations leading to impaired functioning, which then leads to brain level changes. We also discuss how the mitochondria are involved in a process called oxidative stress, which has been informally proposed to be a core process in autism. Download the publication here: s41583-026-01031-7 Download

People in this episode

Guest: Dr. Carisa Sirois

Topics covered

• mitochondria
• autism
• neurodevelopmental disorders
• oxidative stress
• cellular function

Keywords

• mitochondrial deficits
• autism
• neurodevelopment
• oxidative stress
• cellular function
• genetic variations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Wisconsin

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