Mice lacking CDKL5, a gene linked to both Rett syndrome and autism, show features associated with both disorders, according to a study published 26 December in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A growing number of reports of adult-onset symptoms in Phelan-McDermid syndrome underline the need to follow people with the disorder throughout their lives, says Katy Phelan.
Teenagers with autism have an atypical balance between the right and left sides of the corpus callosum, which connects the two hemispheres of the brain, according to a study published 23 November in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
As adult women who have Rett syndrome age, their general health and cognitive skills improve, but they continue to lose motor skills, according to the first long-term study of the syndrome, published 20 November in Clinical Genetics.
Problems with eye movements in people with autism are part of their motor difficulties and may contribute to the social deficits characteristic of the disorder, according to unpublished research presented last week at the Salk Institute, Fondation IPSEN and Nature Symposium on Biological Complexity in La Jolla, California.
Two mutations in CAPS2, an autism-linked protein that promotes neuronal signaling, lead to different autism-like behaviors in mice, according to two studies published in the past two months. Both mutations have been seen in individuals with autism.
The motor cortex of children with autism is wired differently than that of typically developing children, reports a study published 22 October in Human Brain Mapping.
Babies at high risk for developing autism are more likely than controls to have delays in acquiring motor skills, according to two long-term studies published in the past few months.
Men with autism struggle with attention to detail and dexterity, according to a study published 17 October in PLoS One. Men and women with the disorder both have trouble with social skills, however.
Female mice of two different genetic backgrounds consistently model the behavioral features of Rett syndrome, according to a study published 9 October in Human Molecular Genetics. Although Rett syndrome presents almost entirely in girls, researchers have thus far relied mostly on male mice to model the disorder.