Research on mouse models published in the past year is paving the way to reversing the symptoms of some autism-related disorders, National Institute Health directors told a packed room of 80 reporters at the morning at the Society for Neuroscience conference.

A mouse model of neurofibromatosis ― a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder that leads to nerve tumors, memory problems and, often, autism ― exhibits deficits in social interaction and social learning, according to research presented in a poster session today at the Society for Neuroscience conference.

For decades, those who study brain cell activity have faced a fundamental trade off: either closely monitor the activity of a single cell or look at the circuit level to see how large groups of neurons communicate with each other.

Even as I type this, thousands of neuroscientists are descending on Washington D.C. for an annual event that is almost beyond description. An estimated 36,000 people are expected to attend Neuroscience 2008, this yearʼs meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, hobnob, listen to lectures, present posters and down drinks at the many social events.

In the fall of 1980, when he left his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, for undergraduate studies at Cornell University in upstate New York, John Constantino was determined to pursue one of two careers: a doctor or a school teacher.

In the past few months, researchers have published dozens of reports linking single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with susceptibility to a range of common diseases.

In the late 1960s, as an undergraduate student in psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, Cathy Lord spent a couple of hours a day teaching two young boys with autism.

Rare, spontaneous mutations could account for at least ten percent of cases of schizophrenia, according a study published online last week.

At first glance, the waiting room at the Ministry of Health Hospital in Muscat, Oman, may look different than that of your average American hospital. Men dressed all in white and women in black burqas wait in separate rooms, even if they are members of the same family. But talking to these families soon reveals just how similar they are to their American counterparts, says Christopher Walsh, a neurologist who has studied neurodevelopmental disorders in the Middle East for nearly 10 years.

For parents of children with autism, bedtime can be a boondoggle.