Neurogenetic analysis of autism spectrum disorder
Abha Gupta's research group focuses on elucidating the neurogenetic basis of autism. Gupta is deeply fascinated by the neurobiology of human consciousness and social cognition and was drawn to autism since it affects some of our most human qualities, such as self-awareness, self-reflection, and abstract thought. She firmly believes that understanding autism will provide essential insights into human consciousness, which intersects with WTI's mission to understand human cognition. A condition as complex as autism must be tackled from as many different angles as possible. Therefore, Gupta's lab has chosen a highly multidisciplinary approach that includes genetics expertise, neuroimaging, eye-tracking, and clinical characterization. They have published an imaging-genomics analysis of sex differences in autism. This project provided important insights into typical female social cognition involving the salience and central executive brain networks and how they may contribute to the female protective effect observed in autism. Another major project in Gupta's lab focuses on childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD), a late-onset, severe form of regressive autism of unknown etiology. Children with CDD experience significant cognitive decline, and their genetic/fMRI/eye-tracking study revealed a distinct neurobiology from other forms of autism, including the possible preservation of neural circuits involved in eye gaze and attention to social stimuli.
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Biography
Gupta received her BS degree in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry in 1993 from Yale University and MD and PhD (Neuroscience) in 2001 from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed residency training in Pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and fellowship training in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics at CHOP and the Yale School of Medicine. She obtained postdoctoral research training in human genetics at Yale and started her lab here in 2013. Gupta is an avid hiker and aspires to climb Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.