Researchers have released the first set of data from the Mouse Brain Architecture Project, which uses light microscopy to trace neuronal circuits in the mouse brain.

FMRP, the protein missing in people with fragile X syndrome, localizes in clusters of proteins at neuronal junctions that relay sensory and motor information, according to a study published 23 April in The Journal of Comparative Neurology.

Mice lacking a functional copy of UBE3A, the gene missing or mutated in people with the rare developmental disorder Angelman syndrome, show less inhibitory activity than controls do, according to research published 7 June in Neuron.

Deletions in the second half of the autism-linked gene neurexin-1 are associated with seizures and large head size, according to a study published 23 May in the European Journal of Human Genetics.

Two new strains of mice carrying different mutations in the SHANK2 gene show similar autism-like behaviors but opposing effects on brain signaling, according to two independent studies published 14 June in Nature.

A pH-sensitive red fluorescent molecule allows researchers to simultaneously monitor two different types of neuronal activity, according to a study published 27 May in Nature Neuroscience.

Luca Santarelli, head of neuroscience at Roche, explains why he is optimistic that pharmaceutical companies can overcome the obstacles in autism drug development.

Two new postmortem studies show that microglia, which protect the brain from invaders, are denser and more concentrated around neurons in the brains of individuals with autism than in those of controls.

Immune cells called microglia may play a central role in trimming synapses, the connections between neurons, according to research published 24 May in Neuron. These modifications are part of a normal developmental process by which excess synapses in the brain are destroyed.

Knocking out an autism-linked gene called PTEN only in neural stem cells of the hippocampus, a brain region central to learning and memory, throws the development of new neurons off course in adult mice, according to research published last month in the Journal of Neuroscience.