Age-based cutoff scores for BISCUIT, an early diagnostic tool for children with autism traits, help clinicians accurately identify children who also have other disorders, says Johnny Matson.

A virus that ferries healthy copies of the Rett syndrome gene across the blood-brain barrier can reverse symptoms in female mice that model the disorder, according to a report published 21 August in the Journal of Neuroscience. The approach is the closest yet to simulating a workable treatment for the autism-related disorder.

Researchers have uncovered the mechanism by which a candidate drug for Angelman syndrome activates UBE3A, the gene that is silenced in the syndrome, according to a study published 20 August in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Long genes, and their relationship to a class of enzymes that regulate gene expression, raise intriguing questions about the risk for neuropsychiatric disorders.
 

The most popular drugs prescribed for autism in some countries often have serious side effects or have not been vetted in robust clinical trials, finds a study published 5 September in Psychopharmacology.

As much as 30 percent of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder may also have autism, suggests a study published in the June issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Enzymes called topoisomerases are crucial for the expression of extremely long genes, including many that have been linked to autism, according to a study published 5 September in Nature. The researchers also discovered that autism genes are, on average, significantly longer than others.

People with anorexia or bulimia have more traits of autism than do those in the general population, according to a study published 31 July in Molecular Autism.

Watch the complete replay of Benjamin Philpot discussing the possibility of pharmacologically turning on a silent gene to treat Angelman syndrome. Submit follow-up questions.

Depleting excess levels of a molecule involved in neuronal signaling prevents the cognitive and motor symptoms of Angelman syndrome in a mouse model of the disorder, according to a report published 15 August in Cell Reports.