In mice with a mutated copy of SHANK3, stress induces social deficits and alters gene expression in certain excitatory neurons. But eliminating a stress-related protein that regulates SHANK3 restores typical social functioning in the animals.

These short reports from Spectrum journalists highlight some of the autism-related findings that caught our attention at the meeting this past week.

Over the past century, scientists have used a variety of animal models to advance their understanding of the developing brain and autism.

In the past two decades, some autism researchers have turned to simple animals, such as roundworms, fruit flies and zebrafish, for their investigations. Others have sought answers from experiments with frogs, birds and even octopuses.

Researchers are increasingly turning to simple animals to learn about autism biology and find leads for new drugs.

Brain responses to visual stimuli are smaller and weaker in children with Phelan-McDermid syndrome, an autism-linked genetic condition, than in non-autistic children.

A mutation in the autism-linked gene SHANK3 changes how neurons encode information about social agency in mice.

Mice missing the autism-linked gene SHANK3 use more neurons to engage in social behavior than control mice do, reflecting a more disorganized, less efficient brain signaling network.

On 20 September 2017, Hurricane Maria passed over Puerto Rico’s Cayo Santiago Island, home to more than 1,500 non-native rhesus macaques. After the storm, the monkeys formed new, unexpected relationships in ways that could offer clues about autism.

Some neurons activate autism-linked genes when they fire, according to a new study.