Precocious neurons may stunt brain growth in rare form of autism
The first animal model of MYT1L syndrome suggests that fast-maturing neurons lead to the unusually small brains, social deficits and other traits seen in people with the condition.
The first animal model of MYT1L syndrome suggests that fast-maturing neurons lead to the unusually small brains, social deficits and other traits seen in people with the condition.
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.
A genetic therapy and an existing drug both restore typical brain size in mice missing DYRK1A, a top autism candidate gene, in the cerebral cortex, a new study shows. The animals typically have smaller brains than controls.
A screening technique tests how inactivated genes affect spheres of cultured brain cells; it could shed light on autism-linked mutations.
Some people with autism have an unusually large head. What causes the enlargement? And does it have any bearing on outcome?
Individuals with mutations in an autism gene called TRIO may have a range of conditions, including intellectual disability and anomalous head size.
A cellular pathway that helps neurons grow and move during fetal development may drive the changes in head size in some autistic people.
Benefits of diets for autism features remain unproven, variants of the same DNA region make brains big or small, and STAT announces a new CRISPR tracker.
Boys with autism have smaller heads, are shorter and weigh less at birth than typical children do — but all that changes by age 3.
Neurons derived from people with mutations linked to autism display diverse abnormalities that may help explain the origins of these individuals’ features.