Genes

Many genes in a brain region implicated in autism change expression patterns in late fetal development, depending on differences in neighboring DNA.

The mood-stabilizing drug lithium seems to ease repetitive behaviors seen in mice missing SHANK3, an autism gene.

Mice missing DLG2, a protein central to neuronal activity, are anxious, sleep poorly and overgroom themselves.

A comprehensive atlas of gene expression by brain region could spur new research on autism.

Individuals with mutations in an autism gene called TRIO may have a range of conditions, including intellectual disability and anomalous head size.

Mice missing an autism gene called SHANK3 tend to be hypersensitive to touch, which may stem from underactivity of neurons that normally dampen sensory responses.

Even as a small child, geneticist Elise Robinson wondered why people think the way they do. Today, that question informs much of her autism research.

Researchers have cataloged more than 100 mutations in DDX3X, a candidate gene for autism.

People with mutations in a gene called TBR1 have unusual features in several brain regions, along with autism traits and developmental delay.

Lowering the levels of a protein called tau, best known for its involvement in Alzheimer’s disease, improves behavior in two mouse models of autism.