On the periphery: Thinking ‘outside the brain’ offers new ideas about autism
Neuronal alterations outside the brain may help to explain a host of the condition’s characteristic traits, including sensory changes, gut problems and motor differences.
Neuronal alterations outside the brain may help to explain a host of the condition’s characteristic traits, including sensory changes, gut problems and motor differences.
The drug, welcomed by patients, might be just the first of many.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to make an approval decision on the first-ever drug for girls and women with Rett syndrome by 12 March.
This month’s newsletter takes a close look at the orphan drug program in the United States, several cannabis-based therapies and a secondary analysis of bumetanide, among other new developments in autism-related drug trials.
The approach removes methyl tags from the gene and shields it from other silencing factors without changing the gene itself, raising hopes for a new treatment.
The technique involves editing the cellular instructions to make MECP2 protein and partially restores its levels in the brainstem.
Long cast in supporting roles in the brain, astrocytes are now emerging as primary players in certain characteristics of autism and related conditions.
The animals recall fear more readily if a set of inhibitory neurons in the hippocampus is switched on.
Genetics strongly influences some aspects of the monkey’s social behavior, including tendencies to solicit grooming and sit or play alone.
The new animal line could accelerate the discovery of gene-activating therapies for the autism-linked condition Rett syndrome.