Going on Trial rounds up new developments in autism-related drug trials. This month we’re revisiting decade-old data from a trial of arbaclofen for fragile X syndrome and looking into a new implant-based approach to quelling seizures, among other treatment strategies.

Cells from people with fragile X syndrome overproduce — but don’t accumulate — proteins. New work suggests that excessive protein breakdown may account for this discrepancy, and explain some of the syndrome’s traits.

To include more autistic people in research, here’s what scientists need to know about informed consent procedures for study participants who have impaired decision-making capacity.

This week, researchers discussed a search for autism biomarkers, a surprising explanation for how the brain organizes spontaneous behavior, and sleep disturbances in children with genetic neurodevelopmental conditions. Also, four new projects on profound autism received funding from the Autism Science Foundation.

Inactivating TAOK1 prompts tentacle-like protrusions to form all over a neuron’s surface, revealing the gene’s role in molding the membrane.

This edition takes aim at the autism-intervention evidence base with a slew of null results, plus findings that challenge a prevailing autism brain theory.

Discussion on Twitter this week swirled around the evidence base for autism interventions, a new tool for visualizing cells, and the relationship between attention problems and repetitive movements.

‘Tis the season for grad school meet and greets. But what are interviewers looking for, and how can early-career researchers bring their best?

Shortly after the study’s publication, experts critiqued it on PubPeer and other online platforms.

Moving into the new year, researchers on Twitter talked about motion as a confounder for brain-imaging studies, connections between macaque brain activity and body movements, and the importance of motor-speech research in autism.