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Spectrum: Autism Research News

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The Brain

Charting the structure and function of the brain’s many circuits may unravel autism’s mysteries.

February 2011

Bad trip

by  /  22 February 2011

Hallucinogens like LSD and MDMA may help people with autism become more sociable, but negative side effects argue against their use.

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Cognition and behavior: Serotonin pathway affects mouse behavior

by  /  22 February 2011

Mice that lack the gene for integrin β3, or ITGB3 — which regulates the levels of serotonin in the blood — groom themselves frequently and show less interest in stranger mice compared with controls, according to a study published in February in Autism Research as part of a special issue on mouse models in autism.

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Genetic background alters behavior of fragile X mice

by  /  21 February 2011

Six strains of mice lacking a gene associated with fragile X syndrome show radically different behaviors though they share the same mutation, researchers reported in January in Autism Research.

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‘Mind blindness’ affects moral reasoning in autism

by  /  17 February 2011

High-functioning adults with autism pass false belief tests with ease, but struggle with moral judgment in real-life situations.

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Molecular mechanisms: Mice model milder form of fragile X

by  /  16 February 2011

A partial mutation that leads to a milder form of fragile X syndrome causes deficits in learning and memory in mice, and alters the connections between their neurons, according to a study published in January in Neurobiology of Disease.

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Window into brain reveals real-time growth of neurons

by  /  15 February 2011

A new technique allows researchers to watch the long-term effects of disease on the brain, according to a study published in the February Nature Medicine. The approach could help scientists study changes in the brain that result from neurological disorders such as autism.

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Families hint at diverse effects of chromosome 16p deletion

by  /  14 February 2011

Two new studies of families carrying glitches on a region of chromosome 16, which has been strongly associated with autism, reveal the wide range of effects caused by the variant and narrow the list of possible culprit genes.

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Fly ‘brainbows’ light up neuronal connections

by  /  9 February 2011

Four years after scientists devised a way to paint individual mouse neurons in different colors, two independent groups have adapted the technique for use in the fruit fly. Both papers, replete with stunning images of fly neurons, appeared 6 February in Nature Methods.

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Molecular mechanisms: Men with fragile X have enlarged brains

by  /  9 February 2011

Men with fragile X syndrome have larger brains overall than controls do, but less matter in regions involved in language and social interaction.

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Lost in translation

by  /  8 February 2011

The National Institutes of Health is adding a new $1 billion institute for early-stage drug development. But the agency’s plan to fund it by closing the National Center for Research Resources is causing some consternation.

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