The little-studied autism gene ANKRD11 helps to package DNA in the nucleus and plays a critical role in the early growth and positioning of neurons.

Getting to a diagnosis of autism or another neurodevelopmental disorder is a long and frustrating experience for some families — especially when it comes to finding the underlying genetic cause. DNA sequencing could ease this arduous journey.

Scientists have created a transgenic monkey modeling Rett syndrome, they announced yesterday at the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C. This model and others sparked a lively discussion about the relative value of animal models in research.

Loss of MeCP2, the Rett syndrome gene, depletes immune cells throughout the bodies of mice, researchers reported yesterday at the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Neurons derived from the skin cells of boys with Rett syndrome can help screen potential treatments for the disorder, suggest unpublished results presented yesterday at the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Insulin-like growth factor improves social behavior and lessens repetitive behaviors in children with Phelan-McDermid syndrome, according to results from a preliminary clinical trial. Researchers presented the data yesterday at a satellite meeting of the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Each of four different mutations in SHANK3, a leading autism candidate gene, leads to a different set of symptoms in mice, researchers have found. They presented their unpublished results on Thursday.

Many of the genes that have emerged as the strongest autism candidates have turned out to regulate the expression of hundreds, if not thousands, of other genes. Within these networks, scientists are homing in on pathways that underlie autism.

Drugs that activate the silent copy of the X chromosome in women may be able to undo the damage from mutations in genes located there. The study, published 2 September in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offers hope for treating Rett syndrome and other disorders linked to the chromosome.

Rett syndrome, a neurological disorder that shares some features with autism, can be severe and debilitating. But some people with the disorder can regain social skills years after diagnosis.