Articles in development
Environment & microbiome
Glyphosate, the Shikimate Pathway, and Tryptophan Depletion
How Roundup disrupts gut microbiome function, depletes tryptophan availability, and feeds directly into the IDO1 cascade — a mechanistic connection with direct implications for the Biology of Autism framework.
Coming soon
Prenatal immune programming
Maternal Immune Activation — the Prenatal Origin of Lifelong Immune Sensitivity
IL-6, IL-17A, and fetal microglial priming. How prenatal immune events establish the inflammatory baseline that persists throughout neurodevelopment and shapes the ASD phenotype.
Coming soon
Neuroendocrine signaling
The Cholinergic-Somatostatin Axis in ASD
The CCK/opioid peptide → somatostatin no-off-switch mechanism, the upstream cholinergic suppression arm, and downstream consequences across seven gut peptides. Companion to Chapter 11 of the core framework.
Coming soon
Detoxification & vaccination
Sulphation, Tylenol, and Vaccination — GAG Pathway Disruption in Susceptible Children
How acetaminophen use around vaccination depletes sulfate availability, disrupts glycosaminoglycan synthesis, and may impair the detoxification capacity needed to clear adjuvant load in susceptible children.
Coming soon
Epidemiology
Amish Autism Rates — What the Population Comparison Actually Tells Us
Microbiome differences, lifestyle, vaccine exposure differential, and what lower observed ASD rates in Amish communities do and don't mean for the biological cascade model.
Coming soon
Hormonal pathways
Birth Control Pills, Estrogen, and the IDO1 Pathway
The metabolic mechanism linking estrogen signaling to IDO1 activity, adenylyl cyclase, and the male-to-female ASD population ratio — why the sex difference in ASD prevalence may be hormonally mediated.
Coming soon
Neurochemistry
Glutamate, GABA, NMDA and AMPA Receptors in ASD
What each receptor system does, how E/I imbalance develops, and how the kynurenine pathway and calcium dysregulation drive excitatory overload in the autism cascade.
Coming soon
Neurodegenerative overlap
Autism and Alzheimer's — Two Sides of a Plasticity Problem
One condition fails to open plasticity or keep it open. The other has plasticity closing prematurely later in life. The shared biology of synaptic remodeling failure and what connects them mechanistically.
Coming soon
Diet & peptide chemistry
Proline Peptides — What Stays Trapped When the Bond Isn't Cleaved
When pepsin cannot break proline bonds at low pH, casomorphin and gliadorphin peptides remain intact. Which amino acids stay trapped, what opioid-like signaling results, and what this means for tryptophan availability, CCK, and the ASD cascade.
Coming soon
Immune signaling & PANS
Elevated Strep Antibodies, Negative Throat Swabs — What Is the Immune System Reacting To?
Persistent anti-streptococcal serology without active infection points to molecular mimicry — the immune system attacking self-tissue that resembles strep antigens. How this connects to basal ganglia autoantibodies, PANS, and immune-triggered regression in ASD.
Coming soon
Articles publish progressively
Each article is written to the same mechanistic standard as the Biology of Autism core suite — peer-reviewed literature, precise pathway framing, and accessible language for families, clinicians, and researchers. To follow progress or reach out about a specific topic, contact quay@decodingautismnow.com. The core Biology of Autism suite is available now at decodingautismnow.com.