A controversial idea about how cells compartmentalize their contents into droplets — like beads of oil in water — could be key to understanding autism, says Julie Forman-Kay.
Molecules from alpacas may enable scientists to identify cell types in the brain while also revealing their interior structures.
A researcher proposes splitting autism into subtypes, mitochondria make neurotransmitters, and highly successful grantees may face a funding cap.
A new imaging technique allows researchers to illuminate the junctions between neurons in a living person’s brain.
A new method that lets researchers trace the paths of many neurons at once may reveal how neurons go astray in autism.
Researchers debuted a three-dimensional model of an average synapse, the point of connection between neurons, in the 30 May issue of Science.
The autism-linked protein MET is expressed at the junctions between neurons during early brain development in mice, suggesting that it helps establish the connections, according to a study published 21 June in The Journal of Comparative Neurology.
Using high-resolution microscopy, researchers can watch as signaling complexes assemble at neuronal junctions in zebrafish embryos, according to a study published 17 April in Cell Reports.
Four new studies of neuroligin-1 (NLGN1), a gene linked to autism, unravel its complex role in regulating the connections between neurons.
Mutations in two genes linked to autism, neurexin and neuroligin, slow down neuronal signaling, according to research published 2 August in Science. Analyzing the mutations in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the study found that mutations in these genes affect signaling in the opposite direction than is typical.