Researchers have made neurons from the skin cells of mice that model Rett syndrome, according to a study published in the December issue Molecular Psychiatry.

Microglia, brain cells that are part of the immune system, are more activated in the brains of young men with autism than in controls, according to an imaging study published 26 November in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Researchers have identified several harmful autism-linked mutations in a family of proteins that regulate the expression of various genes, they reported 10 October in Autism Research.

Postmortem brains from individuals with autism have astrocytes that are smaller but denser than in control brains, according to a study published 21 September in the Journal of Neuroinflammation. The researchers found similar alterations in a mouse that lacks the autism-linked gene NLGN3.

Solving the riddle of autism genetics will require looking beyond the growing list of candidate genes to epigenetics and personalized medicine.

Most cases of Rett syndrome in China are the result of mutations on the paternal copy of MeCP2, according to a study published 27 August in the European Journal of Medical Genetics.

Researchers in Japan have completed the first step in creating transgenic monkey models of autism, according to a poster presented Wednesday at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.

Neural stem cells derived from people with Rett syndrome show early signs of dysfunction, according to unpublished research presented at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting.

Individuals with an extra copy of MeCP2, the gene mutated in Rett syndrome, have severe developmental delay accompanied by seizures, respiratory infections, poor motor skills and features of autism, according to two new case studies.

Mouse studies of a promising treatment for Rett syndrome, already in clinical trials, offer a note of caution about the drug’s potential. Preliminary findings from the research, presented Sunday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans, show why mouse work remains important even after clinical trials are underway.