In this edition of Null and Noteworthy, tests of intranasal oxytocin and an Angelman syndrome treatment fail to see results.

Treating mice missing the autism-linked gene CNTNAP2 with a strain of gut bacteria makes them more social but no less hyperactive.

Infusions of the hormone oxytocin may make mice that model autism more social by normalizing their brain activity patterns.

Model fish seem to spend more time swimming solo than wildtype zebrafish do, and neurochemicals in their brains respond differently to social interactions.

Intranasal oxytocin may spur new neuron growth and changes in social behavior after a few weeks.

Two types of neurons process social information, a new mouse study suggests, but only one is disrupted in mice missing the autism-linked gene FMR1.

Mice missing the autism gene NLGN3 have altered social behaviors and brain responses to the hormone oxytocin, both of which improve after treatment with a drug that helps regulate protein production.

Like so many other events this year, autism’s biggest annual conference — the International Society for Autism Research meeting — was forced to go virtual because of the coronavirus pandemic.

A new wireless device switches oxytocin-producing neurons on and off in mice as they interact, showing the hormone’s effects depend on social context.