Skip to main content

Spectrum: Autism Research News

Author

Bahar Gholipour

Bahar Gholipour is a freelance science journalist based in New York. She focuses on the brain, neuroscience and psychology, and is passionate about reporting on artificial intelligence, genetics and the politics of healthcare. Her writing has appeared in various print and online publications including WIRED, New York Magazine and Scientific AmericanBahar has a Masters degree in neuroscience from Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, and has done graduate-level work at Stony Brook University’s School of Journalism.

November 2017
magnetic stimulation of human brain

Magnetic stimulation bares imbalance of activity in fragile X brains

by  /  14 November 2017

Researchers have used transcranial magnetic stimulation to show that people with fragile X syndrome have weak ‘inhibitory’ signals, those that dampen neuronal activity in the brain.

Comments
family of marmoset monkeys

AI interprets marmosets’ trills, chirps and peeps

by  /  14 November 2017

New artificial intelligence software can decode conversations between small monkeys called marmosets.

Comments
Magnetoencephalography picks up the tiny magnetic fields produced by neuronal activity.

Powerful duo of techniques charts signals’ path through brain

by  /  13 November 2017

Combining a brain imaging technique with a neuron stimulation method can reveal how activity at one site travels through neural networks in the brain.

Comments
he program simulates the elaborate branches of Purkinje cells. Courtesy of OIST

Researchers simulate neuron down to sub-micron detail

by  /  13 November 2017

A software program can simulate a neuron with realistic 3-D detail in a matter of hours.

Comments
pregnant woman blowing nose and sick on couch

Maternal immune response may render brain vulnerable to injury

by  /  12 November 2017

Mouse brains exposed to inflammation in the womb become more susceptible to a second challenge.

Comments
human going through MRI

New method muffles noise from body movements in brain scans

by  /  12 November 2017

A new software program can correct for the confound introduced by head movements and breathing.

Comments
two sisters sleeping

Melatonin gains momentum as sleep aid for people with autism

by  /  10 November 2017

A new formulation of the hormone melatonin seems to improve sleep in some children with autism.

Comments
Neurons derived from people with autism make unusually few branches (right). Exposing them to control astrocytes fixes the problem (left).

Cells spun from baby teeth implicate astrocytes in autism

by  /  2 November 2017

In children with autism, star-shaped brain cells may release inflammatory molecules that harm neurons.

Comments
October 2017
Newborn child in hospital

Late birth linked to risk of autism with intellectual disability

by  /  18 October 2017

Children with autism who were born late tend to also have intellectual disability.

Comments
Microscope image of neuronal injections in brain.

Two drugs ease features of autism syndromes in mice

by  /  11 October 2017

Drugs that block certain brain enzymes could help treat two conditions associated with autism.

Comments