Is myasthenia gravis an autoimmune disease?

Written by Lila Levinson, PhD | May 24, 2023

Is myasthenia gravis an autoimmune disease?

Category: Causes

Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease. It is caused by mistaken immune attacks on the body’s own tissue — specifically, the sites of nerve-muscle communication.

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About the Author

Lila Levinson, PhD Lila Levinson is a neuroscientist and science writer based out of Seattle. She joined Bionews in 2025 after completing her PhD in neuroscience at the University of Washington, where she studied how the natural flexibility of the human brain can be used to promote recovery after injury. Her research centered on developing techniques to measure brain connectivity using invasive neurotechnology in clinical populations. As a Wesleyan University undergraduate, she studied learning and memory in songbirds. She is passionate about telling science stories in accessible ways. Previously, she has written about science for The Dallas Morning News and the University of Washington Computational Neuroscience Center.