A gene tied to autism and language impairment is crucial for the early development and migration of inhibitory interneurons, according to research presented Monday at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Chicago.

A team of scientists is reprogramming adult stem cells generated from tiny skin samples of people with autism to form nerve cells, creating a powerful research tool for the disorder.

Two research groups have achieved an elusive goal: producing mouse models that show distinct social and behavioral abnormalities reminiscent of autism.

In 1982, Josh Huang was an impressionable young biology undergraduate at Shanghaiʼs FuDan University. Like some of his fellow Chinese students, he knew he wanted to be a neuroscientist, but with limited access to scientific journals, had no idea which big questions were then at the forefront of research.

Along with answering fundamental questions about mammalian brain organization, watching interneurons’ “handshake” with other brain cells is the key to understanding autism, says Gordon Fishell.