Emerging tools and techniques that may advance autism research.
A new online database that compiles genomic sequence information for 162 mouse strains shows that classical laboratory strains have limited genetic diversity, according to a report published 29 May in Nature Genetics.
Video surveillance combined with computer algorithms could provide an objective method to monitor the success of autism interventions, according to a study published 3 May in the Journal of Medical Systems.
A complex mathematical technique can improve the sensitivity of experiments that rely on brain imaging, allowing researchers to study how the brain responds to sequences of stimuli, according to a study published in the June issue of NeuroImage.
Researchers have devised a way to inactivate genes in zebrafish embryos, creating a collection of hundreds of mutant fish lines in which gene function can be explored. The technique was published online 8 May in Nature Methods.
A new method can distinguish between sub-regions of the amygdala, the deep nub of tissue that is involved in emotion processing and that shows abnormal activity in people with autism, according to a study published in the June issue of NeuroImage.
The brain collects information on an object’s orientation, direction and speed all at the same time, according to a study published 15 April in NeuroImage.
Researchers can use bioinformatics tools to identify existing mutant mice that can model features of autism, according to a study published 21 March in the Journal of Biomedical Informatics.
Neurons that respond to the same stimuli are grouped into sub-networks that can quickly communicate with each other, according to a study published 10 April in Nature.
Researchers have taken skin cells from individuals with schizophrenia, bathed them in chemical cocktails and coaxed them to develop into neurons, according to a paper published 13 April in Nature.
Exosomes, the brain’s system for delivering and recycling molecules, can be manipulated to carry therapeutic fragments of RNA or DNA across the blood-brain barrier and into neurons. The ingenious new technique was published 20 March in Nature Biotechnology.
