Emerging tools and techniques that may advance autism research.
The method could boost reproducibility across brain imaging studies of autism.
By breaking rodent vocalizations into parts, TrackUSF distinguishes rats with mutations in the SHANK3 gene from their wildtype counterparts.
The method, called Orgo-Seq, reveals that a deletion of genes on chromosome 16 increases the proportion of immature neurons and neural precursors in brain organoids derived from people with the mutation.
The catalog could help researchers understand the effects of autism-linked DNA variants that fall outside genes.
The DNA specific to mitochondria is difficult to access, but new methods place its secrets within reach.
Researchers updated the tool’s scoring system to better align with the experiences of autistic people.
The ‘projectome’ charts axonal pathways between individual cells in the prefrontal cortex, a brain region implicated in autism.
By coupling the tool — called SLEAP — with optogenetics, researchers can determine the neural circuits underlying social behaviors.
The open-source device achieves subcellular resolution in a larger tissue volume than was possible with prior miniscopes, without impinging upon a mouse’s behavior.
The machine-learning tool, which automatically counts how many marbles a mouse buries, appears to distinguish between hyperactivity and repetitive behaviors.
The calcium-sensing instrument translates neuronal activity into signals that can be detected via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
