Location prompts fragile X protein to flip its function
The protein, FMRP, shapes cell signaling near synapses but switches to regulate genes in the cell body, according to new research.
The protein, FMRP, shapes cell signaling near synapses but switches to regulate genes in the cell body, according to new research.
The investigational drug arbaclofen makes autistic people’s brains respond to a visual task more like non-autistic people’s brains do.
Even partial loss of the gene impairs the mouse brain’s ability to respond to sensory experiences, which may explain why people with SYNGAP1 mutations tend to have learning difficulties and a high pain tolerance.
Preliminary results suggested the treatment is no better than placebo at reducing the severity of core autism traits.
Mounting evidence suggests that autism often involves upsets in homeostatic plasticity, a set of processes neurons use to stabilize their activity. These disruptions result from a range of autism-linked mutations and may help to explain the condition’s famed heterogeneity.
A transplant of inhibitory neurons during the second week of life prevents social difficulties and a brain signaling imbalance in mice missing a copy of FOXG1.
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.
As cannabis prohibition slowly lifts in the United States, scientists and families in the autism community are increasingly turning to the drug and its constituent compounds to ease autism-related difficulties, including seizures and irritability.
Worms and zebrafish missing both copies of the gene CHD7 have disrupted cellular signaling, a dearth of inhibitory neurons and behavior changes — all of which are reversed by the stimulant drug ephedrine.
Activity patterns of neuronal networks link different genetic subtypes of autism that have similar traits, according to new unpublished research.