Oxytocin may well have established its reputation as the ‘social hormone’ in the popular imagination, but it has no effect on symptoms in children with autism, according to a study published 26 July in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
Understanding the basis of sexual dimorphism in autism may not only inform our treatment of this condition, but may translate to therapies for many other mental illnesses, say Nirao Shah and Devanand Manoli.
Methylation — modifications to DNA that regulate gene expression — may explain why identical twins with the same Rett syndrome mutation have different symptoms, according to a study published 21 June in PLoS One.
Researchers can increase the power of studies that link genetic variants to autism by factoring in potential subgroups of the disorder, according to a report published 26 June in PLoS One.
A new software tool detects chromosomal alterations present in only a subset of cells in the body. This method, described 31 May in BMC Genomics, may help reveal mosaicism’s contribution to neurological disorders.
Two university-based clinics have debuted large programs that rely on sequencing to diagnose genetic disorders, including developmental disorders such as autism.
By combining bioinformatics techniques with an analysis of gene expression, researchers have identified 30 candidate genes for autism, according to a study published 28 May in Translational Psychiatry.
Jason Stein and Daniel Geschwind analyze how different types of genetic variation contribute to autism risk.
Induced pluripotent stem cells, which have the ability to become any cell type, including neurons, offer a powerful way to study neuropsychiatric disorders. But for this approach to reach its full potential, researchers must first address several challenges, such as variability between cell lines, say Flora Vaccarino and Jessica Mariani.
A number of autism risk factors converge on one cellular pathway: abnormal remodeling of the cell’s structural systems through the signaling protein Rho, says SFARI’s associate director for research, Alan Packer.