Lowering the levels of proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease can improve symptoms of fragile X syndrome in mice, according to a poster presented Wednesday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

Researchers have designed an automated cage assay to minimize the anxiety mice feel as they are being tested for social behavior. The new technique was presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

Lithium ameliorates some of the cognitive and behavioral deficits associated with fragile X syndrome by blocking GSK-3, an enzyme that plays a key role in development, researchers said Wednesday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

The brains of young mice with fragile X syndrome show a dearth of two proteins that are important at the synapse, the junction between neurons, researchers reported Tuesday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

An asocial inbred mouse strain called BTBR may show behaviors associated with autism, such as avoiding eye gaze and forming an attachment to objects, researchers reported Monday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

A study of mice with tuberous sclerosis — a single-gene disorder that is related to autism — suggests that most forms of autism share a common feature: an imbalance of proteins at the synapse, the junction between neurons. The work was presented Monday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

If you give most mice a choice between sniffing a new playmate and a new object, most will choose the new playmate every time. But not BTBR or SHANK3 mutant mice, which spend less time engaging in social interactions with other mice. Does that mean these mice have autism?

Researchers have developed the first stem cell system that makes it possible to study the early development of neurons from people with Rett syndrome, a rare disorder on the autism spectrum.

UBE3A, a protein mutated in Angelman syndrome and autism, regulates communication between neurons in the brain, according to a study published 29 October in Cell.

Mice bearing the genetic defect that causes Timothy syndrome show many autism-like behaviors, and may also have enhanced cognitive abilities like those seen in a small number of people with autism, suggests a poster presented Sunday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.