Mice lacking one copy of the autism-linked 16p11.2 chromosomal region are thin, deaf and show repetitive behaviors. They also have altered proportions of neurons in their brains, particularly those that express the chemical messenger dopamine. The unpublished results were presented Sunday at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.
Mouse studies of a promising treatment for Rett syndrome, already in clinical trials, offer a note of caution about the drug’s potential. Preliminary findings from the research, presented Sunday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans, show why mouse work remains important even after clinical trials are underway.
The anxiety drug diazepam, commonly marketed as Valium, reverses deficits in sensory integration in a mouse model of autism, according to research presented Sunday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.
The sperm of old mice has an unusual epigenome, the profile of chemical modifications to the underlying DNA code, according to a poster presented Saturday at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans. The findings suggest an explanation for the so-called paternal age effect in autism.
People with Phelan-McDermid syndrome, which causes severe intellectual disability and is often accompanied by autism, also have a blunted response to pain. New research on a mouse model of the syndrome, presented at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, aims to find out why.
After nine long years, the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting is returning to New Orleans. And SFARI.org’s reporters are ready to deliver the best advances in autism research that emerge.
A new mouse model provides the first molecular link between the known autism risk gene PTEN and the mitochondrial dysfunction sometimes seen in the disorder. Mice with half the normal amount of PTEN protein in their brains have social deficits reminiscent of autism and faulty mitochondria, according to a study published 10 August in PLoS One.
The so-called ‘spiny mouse’ species has a gestational period twice as long as that of typical laboratory mice. This makes them good models for studying the link between prenatal exposure and autism risk, according to a study published 29 August in Brain, Behavior and Immunity.
RNA editing, which creates multiple forms of a protein, is common among proteins involved in neuronal signaling, and may be abnormal in people with autism, according to a study published 7 August in Molecular Psychiatry.
Deleting an enzyme that regulates protein synthesis reverses some of the molecular and behavioral deficits in a mouse model of fragile X syndrome, according to research published 2 October in Neuron.