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Spectrum: Autism Research News

Author

Polina Porotskaya

Polina Porotskaya is a former intern at Spectrum and a graduate student in the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program at New York University. Polina writes about neuroscience, biology and medicine. She has a B.A. in neuroscience from Columbia University.

September 2020
young autistic girl in playroom with a tennis ball that matches her yellow dyed hair.

Inside a summer camp for autistic children in Russia

by  /  1 September 2020

Photographs show how a camp in St. Petersburg this summer helped children on the spectrum and their families find some fun during the pandemic.

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February 2020
Brain organoid cells look different than those in embryonic brain tissue-grid of six images show growth of both types over time.

Cell stress may sap organoids’ usefulness in autism research

by  /  26 February 2020

Some cells in brain organoids — 3D clusters of cultured brain cells — fail to develop fully.

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September 2019
Colorful figure with a circle shape (a pill) and an orange X in the background symbolizing Fragile X

Diabetes drug delivers multiple benefits for people with fragile X syndrome

by  /  17 September 2019

Researcher Randi Hagerman is a big proponent of metformin — a diabetes drug that she is testing in people with fragile X syndrome. In fact, Hagerman takes the drug herself as a preventive measure against cancer.

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Older father carries son in reed baseball cap

Mutations in sperm may accrue too slowly to increase autism risk

by  /  5 September 2019

A new analysis challenges the idea that mutations in the sperm of older fathers lead to higher rates of autism among their children.

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August 2019

New maps of neuronal connections reveal roundworms’ wiring

by  /  30 August 2019

Two new maps show the entire nervous system of the adult roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans.

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Levels of brain chemicals may reflect severity of autism traits

by  /  19 August 2019

The levels of four chemicals in the brain may distinguish autism and vary with its severity, according to a new study.

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What matters for protein linked to autism? Location, location, location

by  /  14 August 2019

One form of the protein implicated in Angelman syndrome and autism clusters in the nucleus, and it’s this form that may be critical to brain development.

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July 2019
researchers gather around a preprint, sharing and networking

Preprint server aims to lead medical research into era of open science

by  /  31 July 2019

Envisioned as bioRxiv’s clinical cousin, the new preprint server medRxiv hosts unpublished manuscripts describing original medical research.

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organoids in petri dishes

New recipe yields set of strikingly similar brain organoids

by  /  26 July 2019

A new method enables scientists to grow organoids that reliably reproduce the diversity of cells at the brain’s surface.

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Interactive atlas reveals zebrafish brain circuits in 3D

by  /  12 July 2019

A new online tool maps the shape and location of neurons in the larval zebrafish brain.

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