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Spectrum: Autism Research News

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Signs & Symptoms

Autism’s core symptoms accompany a constellation of subtle signs that scientists are just beginning to unmask.

November 2018
Marmoset in a clear cage in a lab.

Monkey motion-capture reveals social behavior in 3-D

by  /  8 November 2018

A monkey-sized jacket embedded with motion sensors — similar to technology used to animate creatures in movies — is helping researchers develop the common marmoset as a model for studying human social behavior.

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A collage shows a black and white portrait of Russian doGrunya Efimovna Sukhareva on a colored background.

How history forgot the woman who defined autism

by  /  7 November 2018

Grunya Sukhareva characterized autism nearly two decades before Austrian doctors Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger. So why did the latter get all the credit?

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Light brown rat stand on hind legs, sniffing and listening

Vagus-nerve stimulation may ease hearing problems in Rett rats

by  /  7 November 2018

Stimulating the vagus nerve may normalize the brain response to sound in a rat model of Rett syndrome. It may also improve rats’ behavioral response to certain speech sounds.

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Genetic background can alter behavior of common mouse strains

by  /  7 November 2018

Mice with different genetic backgrounds have distinct behavioral profiles — and that may muddle findings from mouse research.

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Motor, sensory traits refine autism definition in research framework

by  /  7 November 2018

Adding motor and sensory data boosts the accuracy of Research Domain Criteria — a broad research framework adopted by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health — for predicting autism.

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Robot ‘rat’ meets real rat — and science happens

by  /  6 November 2018

An autonomous robotic ‘rat’ may offer novel insights into the social responses of its warm-blooded counterparts.

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Roundworm roundup may reveal function of autism genes

by  /  6 November 2018

Tracking how roundworms crawl has enabled scientists to determine that many autism genes are involved in sensory processing and learning.

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Baby with EEG cap looks at camera.

Brain waves of autistic children show delay in language learning

by  /  6 November 2018

Babies eventually diagnosed with autism learn to detect speech sounds later than their typical peers do.

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Zebra finch in a researcher's hand is given an oxytocin blocker.

Blocking oxytocin causes birds to sing solitary tunes

by  /  5 November 2018

Inhibiting the social hormone oxytocin alters the songs male zebra finches sing to attract females.

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Pattern of squeaks corresponds to social behavior in autism mice

by  /  5 November 2018

The pattern of high-pitched calls a mouse makes may reflect how, and how much, it is interacting with other mice. The pattern holds for typical mice as well as for two mouse models of autism.

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