Elevated levels of EIF4E, which plays a key role in protein synthesis, lead to autism-like behaviors and abnormal neuronal signaling in mice, according to a study published 17 January in Nature.

Bumetanide, a drug that’s long been used to treat high blood pressure, modestly improves social behaviors in children with mild forms of autism, according to the results of a small trial published in December in Translational Psychiatry.

Neurons in mice that model fragile X syndrome show immature, overexcitable firing patterns, particularly during sleep, according to unpublished research presented last week at the Salk Institute, Fondation IPSEN and Nature Symposium on Biological Complexity in La Jolla, California.

Memantine, a drug used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, can reverse autism-like features in mice lacking one copy of the MEF2C gene, according to a poster presented last week at the Salk Institute, Fondation IPSEN and Nature Symposium on Biological Complexity in La Jolla, California.

A new study bolsters the idea that overactive protein synthesis contributes to autism. The findings, published 21 November in Nature, show that dampening a single overabundant protein, neuroligin-1, reverses both abnormal brain activity and social deficits in mice.

The anxiety drug diazepam, commonly marketed as Valium, reverses deficits in sensory integration in a mouse model of autism, according to research presented Sunday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.

Researchers have induced stem cells to form three-dimensional clumps of neurons that resemble miniature brains, according to a study published 31 July in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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.

A new device allows researchers to identify the precise source of an emitted brain signal measured in freely moving rats, according to a study published in the July issue of the Journal of Neurophysiology.

A compound called baclofen restores the balance between different types of brain signals and alleviates autism-like behaviors in mice, according to a study published 17 July in Translational Psychiatry. A similar drug called arbaclofen is in clinical trials as a treatment for autism and fragile X syndrome.