Rat models of autism have a weak and sluggish brain response to speech sounds, but behavioral training can improve their performance. The unpublished results, presented Sunday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego, suggest that a similar approach may benefit people with the disorder.
People are unconsciously alert to what’s going on in the minds of others, and this activity can be traced to two specific regions of the brain, according to unpublished results presented Sunday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.
Two new studies bolster the emerging idea that microglia, cells that were long dismissed as passive soldiers of the brain’s immune system, are in fact actively involved in shoring up connections between neurons. The unpublished work was presented Sunday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.
Researchers have recreated one of the most popular rodent models of autism in a decidedly slimier animal: the tadpole. The unpublished study was presented Sunday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.
Brain regions that help people orient themselves in space and time may also guide their sense of intimacy and hierarchy with another person, according to findings presented Sunday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.
The brains of children with autism don’t tune out irrelevant sensory information, according to a brain imaging study presented Saturday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.
Activating cells in the cerebellum, a brain region usually associated with movement, eliminates seizures in a mouse strain that normally has hundreds of seizures a day, according to results presented Saturday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.
Deletion of a gene in 22q11.2, a chromosomal region linked to autism and schizophrenia, leads to small head size in mice, according to research presented Saturday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego. Mice with a large deletion in this region show disrupted brain connections, and struggle with learning and memory.
Regions of the brain that process vision and control movements are poorly connected in children with autism, according to results presented Saturday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.
A new test of mouse intelligence closely mimics the types of assays used with people and detects a subtle learning deficit reminiscent of one seen in teenagers with autism, according to findings presented Saturday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.