Features / Special Reports / 2019: Year in review
Five hot topics in autism research in 2019
This year’s hot topics in autism research center around brain organoids, heart rate, the gut microbiome, treatment timing and early detection.
TOPIC
The Brain
Charting the structure and function of the brain’s many circuits may unravel autism’s mysteries.
News / Toolbox
Artificial neurons may repair damaged cells and circuits
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Electronic neurons made from silicon mimic brain cells and could be used to treat conditions such as autism.
Opinion / Viewpoint
How the autonomic nervous system may govern anxiety in autism
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The branch of the nervous system that regulates subconscious bodily processes such as breathing and digestion may play a key role in autism.
News
Fever’s immune effect on brain may ease autism traits
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An immune molecule produced during a fever improves sociability in three mouse models of autism.
December 2019
News / Toolbox
Modified bike helmet scans brains of people in motion
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A magnetic scanner fitted within an ordinary bicycle helmet may make it easier to visualize autistic children’s brains.
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News
Loss of autism gene may lead to pile-up of proteins in neurons
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A shortage of CUL3, a leading autism gene, may impair social behavior in mice by ramping up protein production in neurons.
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News
Top autism gene tied to unusual skull, skeletal growth
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People with mutations in CHD8, a top autism gene, tend to be tall and have large heads.
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Opinion / Viewpoint
In defense of sex steroids’ role in autism
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Multiple independent studies are revealing evidence suggesting that sex steroids are important in autism.
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News
Distinct brain pathway underlies ecstasy’s social effects
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The drug popularly known as ecstasy may boost sociability through brain circuits distinct from that underlying its ‘high.’
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News
Mice with autism mutation may be indifferent to social scents
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Neurons in mice that lack an autism gene called CNTNAP2 do not differentiate well between social and nonsocial smells — an issue that seems to stem from haphazard neuronal firing.
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News
Brains of autistic people show unusual left-right symmetry
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The hemispheres in autistic people’s brains are more symmetrical than those of their typical peers, but it is unclear what this difference means.
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November 2019
News / Toolbox
Study links large set of common genes to brain structure
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A new analysis of nearly 40,000 people pinpoints 48 genetic variants that may determine the volume of certain brain areas.
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News / Toolbox
Chimeric mouse model aids study of brain’s immune cells
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A new technique allows researchers to transplant human microglia into mouse brains and better study the association between these cells and autism.