An altered immune system can cause autism-like behaviors, suggests a study published 31 July in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers found that a bone marrow transplant, which restores the animals’ immune system, alleviates their anxiety and repetitive behavior.

The assumption in some published overviews of autism tends to be that all of the problems relevant to the disorder can be found at synapses, the junctions between neurons. But it’s difficult not to notice the striking number of chromatin-associated genes that have emerged as candidate risk factors over the past few months.

Researchers plan to develop pig models of Prader-Willi syndrome, an inherited disorder caused by the deletion of an autism-linked region of chromosome 15.

SAGE Labs has announced a new partnership with the autism science and advocacy organization Autism Speaks to fund the creation of three new rat models of autism.

Concerned by researchers’ lack of access to a valuable mouse model of autism, a nonprofit advocacy group is dedicating a chunk of its limited resources to the creation of a freely available version.

Overfed rodents could be throwing toxicology tests off kilter, according to a review published 13 June in Chemical Research in Toxicology.

An innovative technique that uses waves of light to silence brain signaling in live animals can affect subsequent neuronal signals, according to a study published 24 June in Nature Neuroscience.

Losing one or both copies of TSC1, one of the two genes responsible for tuberous sclerosis complex, in specific cells of the cerebellum can trigger several autism-like behaviors in mice, according to research published 1 July in Nature.

Studying tuberous sclerosis provides researchers with a unique opportunity to find a common pathway among the various genetic causes of autism, says neurologist Mustafa Sahin.

Delicate dosage issues are just one complication of developing gene therapy for neurodevelopmental disorders.