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Spectrum: Autism Research News

Tag: audio research news

February 2023
A photograph of an infant's foot.

Dietary changes ease traits in rare autism-linked condition

by  /  21 February 2023

Early treatment with nutritional supplements and a high-protein diet forestalls some neurodevelopmental problems for children with BCKDK deficiency.

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an image of a neuron

Neurons struggle to spike without fragile X gene

by  /  17 February 2023

FMR1 loss impairs sodium channels, hindering mouse neurons from generating the electrical signals needed to transmit information.

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Research image of cell bodies of rett-like neurons, some of which were treated with epigenome editors.

Epigenome edits unmute MECP2 in Rett-like neurons

by  /  16 February 2023

The approach removes methyl tags from the gene and shields it from other silencing factors without changing the gene itself, raising hopes for a new treatment.

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Research image shows elevated expression of certain genes, shown in pink and green, along with expected gene expression, shown in blue.

Autism-linked MYT1L mutations prompt ‘identity crisis’ in budding brain cells

by  /  14 February 2023

Both human and mouse progenitor cells with the alterations struggle to become neurons and instead express genes that are typically active only in muscle or the heart.

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Research image of the protein CHD2.

Autism-linked chromatin regulators may moonlight as microtubule influencers

by  /  8 February 2023

Five autism-linked genes widely known as chromatin regulators appear to also shape the cell’s internal skeleton.

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Illustration of neurons.

Chromatin remodeling tied to altered splicing in autism model

by  /  7 February 2023

Exposing neurons to valproic acid, a well-known environmental risk factor for autism, disrupts their ability to generate different proteins from the same gene.

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Fishing for protein partners nets clues to autism

by  /  6 February 2023

Connections between 13 autism-linked proteins and their binding partners in excitatory neurons implicate a new molecular pathway.

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A white mouse, brown mouse and black mouse stand inside a wooden circle against a blue background.

CHD8 mutation in 33 mouse strains yields range of traits

by  /  3 February 2023

The findings put genetic background forward to help explain autism’s heterogeneity.

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Headshot of Johnny Matson, former editor-in-chief of Research in Developmental Disabilities and Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Prolific autism researcher has two dozen papers retracted

by  /  2 February 2023

Elsevier’s retractions focus on peer review and conflicts of interest.

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January 2023
A photograph of a person preparing for an fMRI scan

Head motion mars most fMRI results, even after correction

by  /  30 January 2023

A new measure shows how greatly movement influences associations between traits and brain activity, revealing abundant false positives and false negatives.

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