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.

Researchers have engineered two new rats with mutations in a family of genes that function at neuronal junctions, they reported today at the 2014 International Meeting for Autism Research in Atlanta.

Injecting stem cells into young rats makes them more social and flexible when learning tasks than before the treatment.

A molecular Swiss army knife for DNA is hewing a path to clarify the subtle effects of thousands of autism-linked mutations.

The combination of prenatal stress and a preterm labor drug may elicit seizures and autism-like behaviors in rat pups.

The same autism-linked mutation can lead to dramatically different behaviors in rats and mice.

Rats exposed in utero to the epilepsy drug valproic acid, a risk factor for autism, do not develop autism-like behaviors if they are reared in a stimulating environment. Researchers presented the unpublished findings yesterday at the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

The SHANK family of proteins, some of which are strong autism candidates, work together to facilitate brain signaling, according to unpublished results presented yesterday at the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.