Small regulatory RNA molecules are most active between infancy and early childhood in a region of the brain known for complex thinking and behavior, reports a new study published 6 August in Molecular Psychiatry. The finding, based on an analysis of postmortem brains, may provide insight into what goes wrong in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.
Electronic health records may help researchers assemble information about autism, such as its full range of symptoms, from thousands of individuals, says Isaac Kohane.
A large study identifying common genetic variations that contribute to five different psychiatric disorders, including autism, sheds light on the disorder’s genetic architecture, says Benjamin Neale.
A boy with a rare deletion in chromosome 3 was diagnosed with autism and psychotic symptoms by age 5, according to a case report published 26 February in the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A. He is the second identified individual with this deletion who has these symptoms, which are exceedingly rare in combination.
Some Chinese individuals with autism have rare mutations that may disrupt the production of melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep, according to a study published 17 January in PLoS One.
A group of genetic variants that are linked to schizophrenia do not seem to be associated with autism, according to a study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B.
People with autism have fewer children than average, and so do their brothers, according to a study of Swedes born between 1950 and 1970.
Genes involved in neuropsychiatric disorders tend to be required for the formation of primary cilia — small tentacles on the cell surface that sense the external environment — according to a study published 3 October in PLoS One.
Women who have a history of bipolar disorder or depression are more likely to have a child with Asperger syndrome than classic autism, according to a study published in the 2012 issue of Autism Research and Treatment.
Researchers have developed an index that can predict the age of developing interneurons, which inhibit signals in the brain, according to a study published 24 August in PLoS One. They then used this measurement to show that interneurons are immature in autism brains.