Title: Questions for Robert Joseph: How extreme prematurity ups autism risk | Spectrum | Autism Research News
Headings: Questions for Robert Joseph: How extreme prematurity ups autism risk
Questions for Robert Joseph: How extreme prematurity ups autism risk
Robert Joseph

Content: The Expert: Robert Joseph
Assistant professor, Boston University
Infants born prematurely have a higher risk of autism than infants delivered at term, and this risk climbs the earlier a baby is born. But it’s unclear whether these autism features are merely a by-product of the complications of prematurity. Autism in premature infants is no different from classic autism and not just a result of prematurity, says Robert Joseph, assistant professor of anatomy and neurobiology at Boston University. An early exit from the womb intensifies the biological factors that drive autism, putting preterm infants at heightened risk, he says. In a 2009 study, Joseph’s colleagues found that 21 percent of children born before 28 weeks of gestation showed signs of autism at age 2. In an extension of that work published in May, Joseph’s team evaluated those same children at age 10 1. About 15 percent of children born between 23 and 24 weeks of pregnancy have autism, compared with 3.4 percent of children born at 27 weeks, the study found. We asked Joseph what he has learned about the link between prematurity and autism. Spectrum: