Spectrum: Autism Research News

Cases of autism in some high-risk areas are leveling off, argues a new study published in November in Pediatrics.

The parts of the brain that help us pay attention to some things and not others have specialized regions for different senses, such as sight and sound, according to a paper published online in November in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers have developed a technique to detect interactions in live neurons between neuroligins and neurexins — two proteins known to bind at the junction between neurons, according to a study published 29 October in Cell.

Chinese researchers have developed a new imaging system, called micro-optical sectioning tomography or MOST, to generate a three-dimensional image of neurons in a whole mouse brain.

Minocycline, an antibiotic approved to treat various infections including acne, can increase vocalizations and provide long-lasting improvements in anxiety in a fragile X mouse model, according to two posters presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

Brain cells communicate across complex junctions called synapses, filled with proteins working to bind neurons together. Kurt Haas of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver has developed a method to watch neuron development in the growing tadpole brain.

Researchers have designed an automated cage assay to minimize the anxiety mice feel as they are being tested for social behavior. The new technique was presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

Reducing the levels of CNTNAP2 — a gene implicated in both autism and language impairment — in zebrafish leads to a decrease in neurons that dampen signals in the brain, according to unpublished data presented Tuesday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

Contrary to popular belief, receptors both outside and inside a cell regulate a cellular pathway that is overactive in people with fragile X syndrome, researchers reported Tuesday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego. The finding could have significant implications for drug treatments of fragile X syndrome.

Proteins that function at the synapse, the junction between neurons, have been strongly linked to autism. At the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego, Mriganka Sur, professor of neuroscience at the Massachusetts institute of technology, explained how studying synapses is revolutionizing our understanding of autism.