Rats missing UBE3A, the gene mutated in people with Angelman syndrome, squeak frequently but tend not to be responsive to the play and squeaks of other rats.

Lovastatin, a drug that lowers cholesterol levels, prevents memory and learning problems in a rat model of fragile X syndrome.

A flexible electrode array can record the firing of hundreds of rat neurons for months on end.

The brains of rats exposed in utero to the seizure drug valproate show a significant increase in brain size around the time of birth.

Stimulating the vagus nerve may normalize the brain response to sound in a rat model of Rett syndrome. It may also improve rats’ behavioral response to certain speech sounds.

An autonomous robotic ‘rat’ may offer novel insights into the social responses of its warm-blooded counterparts.

Balls of human neurons transplanted into a rat brain receive blood supply and connect with neural circuits.

Fever in pregnant rats around the time of delivery disrupts their pups’ communication and social behavior.

Rats with a mutation in CACNA1C, a gene linked to autism, make fewer happy squeaks while playing than controls do, and ignore other rats’ requests to play.

Male rats missing an autism candidate gene called SHANK3 spend less time sniffing, nuzzling and chasing their peers than controls do.