Study finds Alzheimer’s drug may improve social functioning in some autistic youth

October 24, 2025

A new study published in JAMA Network Open offers promising early evidence that the drug memantine, commonly used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, may improve social functioning in some autistic youth, particularly those with higher levels of a brain chemical called glutamate.

In the study, 42 autistic youth ages 8–17 (without intellectual disability) took part in a 12-week trial. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either memantine or a placebo, with doses gradually increased to a maximum of 20 mg per day.

Memantine as a treatment for autism

By the end of the trial, more than half (56%) of those who took memantine showed significant improvement in social behaviors compared with only 21% in the placebo group. The drug was generally well tolerated, with mostly mild side effects including insomnia, colds/allergies and increased appetite.

Researchers also used a brain scan to measure glutamate in a region of the brain involved in social and emotional processing. Over half of autistic participants had higher-than-typical glutamate levels. In that subgroup, 80% responded to memantine, compared with 20% of the placebo group, suggesting glutamate levels could help identify who is most likely to benefit from this drug.

“This study offers early, encouraging signs that the biomarker glutamate might help pinpoint which autistic youth could benefit from memantine,” says Andy Shih, chief science officer at Autism Speaks. “Larger studies are the next step to confirm these results and understand the potential impact of this drug for the autism community.”

What this means for the autism community

There are currently no FDA-approved medications that reliably improve social difficulties in autism. These findings add to growing evidence that memantine may be an effective treatment, and that differences in glutamate levels may influence how autistic people respond to this medication.

However, more research is needed to confirm who could benefit from this treatment and the best dose and duration. Because this was a small study and did not include individuals with intellectual disability, it’s not clear if these findings are generalizable to the broader autistic community. These findings will need to be replicated in larger and more diverse groups over longer periods of time to confirm the efficacy of memantine as a treatment for people with autism.