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Spectrum: Autism Research News

Tag: inhibitory signaling

June 2022
A computer-rendered analysis of neurons

Autism-linked mutation disrupts brain circuit to change social behavior

by  /  24 June 2022

Therapies that target the circuit could boost social activity, new findings suggest.

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April 2022

Faulty inhibition foils long-term memory in Rett mice

by  /  11 April 2022

The animals recall fear more readily if a set of inhibitory neurons in the hippocampus is switched on.

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January 2022

Rethinking the origins of neurons: Q&A with Tomasz Nowakowski

by  /  20 January 2022

Excitatory and inhibitory neurons can derive from the same cellular source in the developing human brain, a new study suggests, overturning a 20-year-old hypothesis. Tomasz Nowakowski discusses the finding’s implications for autism research.

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Visual stimulus of 4 circles with black and white stripes.

Visual task flags autistic people who respond to GABA agonists

by  /  5 January 2022

The investigational drug arbaclofen makes autistic people’s brains respond to a visual task more like non-autistic people’s brains do.

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December 2021
Mouse cortex micrograph

Mutation in new autism candidate gene disrupts social brain area

by  /  16 December 2021

Mice missing a copy of the gene SENP1 have atypical social behavior likely due to a signaling imbalance in the retrosplenial cortex.

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November 2021
Illustration shows a cartoon-like simple figure made out of a switchboard, with colorful cables converging on an area deep in the brain.

Brain’s sensory switchboard has complex connections to autism

by  /  15 November 2021

An atypical thalamus may underlie not only sensory issues in autism but also difficulties with social skills, attention and memory.

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Three mice sniffing each other.

Reversing mutations in top autism-linked gene makes adult mice more social

by  /  10 November 2021

Treatments that counteract the effects of an SCN2A mutation in mice increase the animals’ sociability in adulthood, according to a new unpublished study.

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October 2021
Black CDKL5 mice in a lab setting--three mice in a cage.

Brain stimulation improves memory in autism mouse models

by  /  15 October 2021

Jolting a bundle of nerve fibers deep in the brain restores learning and memory in mice with mutations of the autism-linked gene CDKL5.

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Closeup photo of a liquid being poured out of a brown bottle.

French pharma firms terminate trials of bumetanide for autism

by  /  1 October 2021

Preliminary results suggested the treatment is no better than placebo at reducing the severity of core autism traits.

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July 2021
Immature inhibitory cells surround mature neuron.

Critical time window flagged for autism gene’s influence

by  /  16 July 2021

A transplant of inhibitory neurons during the second week of life prevents social difficulties and a brain signaling imbalance in mice missing a copy of FOXG1.

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