Male mice that carry a specific mutation in the autism-linked PTEN gene have enlarged brains and show heightened interest in other mice, according to a study published 7 February in Human Molecular Genetics.
Two new maps of the brain — an atlas of fetal development and a wiring diagram in the mouse — debuted 2 April in Nature. The maps may open new avenues of investigation into the genetic and neurological basis of autism.
The brains of children with autism contain discrete patches of what look like immature neurons, according to a small study of postmortem brains published 27 March in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Prebiotics — nutrients that promote the growth of some beneficial gut bacteria — can influence brain chemistry and behavior. New findings suggest prebiotics as treatments for people with neurological disorders, say Sarkis Mazmanian and Gil Sharon.
Thought until recently to only coordinate motor skills, the cerebellum is involved in diverse cognitive functions such as language and social interaction, and may play a role in autism, says Emanuel DiCicco-Bloom.
The ‘rich club,’ a higher-order brain network, is anatomically similar but functionally richer in adults compared with children, according to a study published 5 February in PLoS One.
Removing the fragile X syndrome gene from two brain regions in mice leads to signaling defects but does not produce behavioral deficits, according to a study published in the February issue of Autism Research.
A new paper accomplishes a rare feat, linking human genetics with physiology, behavior and a therapeutic in a compelling mouse model of autism, says Alan Packer.
FOXP2, a language gene that is linked to autism, may regulate active connections between neurons by controlling the levels of a protein called SRPX2, according to a study published 22 November in Science.
By creating an atlas of 39 different areas in the mouse cerebellum, researchers have highlighted differences in this region in three mouse models of autism, they reported 22 October in Autism Research.