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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.

January 2023
Figure shows cultured human kidney cells and cultured rat cortical neurons responding to light exposure.

Unconventional optogenetics technique spurs long-lasting changes in neuronal activity

by  /  9 January 2023

Conventional optogenetic manipulations to excite or inhibit neurons stop when the light switches off. A new approach makes the changes last.

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A sliced section of a human brain is displayed for a photograph.

Immunity-linked genes expressed differently in brains of autistic people

by  /  6 January 2023

Postmortem brain samples from people with one of six conditions, including autism, show distinct signatures of over- and underexpression of immune genes.

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Lab images of cilia.

Autism and the cell’s antennae

by  /  4 January 2023

Many autism-linked genes are somehow tied to cilia, the tiny hair-like sensors that stud a cell’s surface. But the question remains whether, and how, cilia differences contribute to the condition.

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December 2022
Figure showing an analysis of gene expression in cells across development.

Highly expressed genes may buffer against autism-linked mutations in girls

by  /  14 December 2022

Such high expression levels may account for the condition’s sex bias, a new preprint suggests — but not everyone agrees with that logic.

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Illustration of a pregnant woman seated next to a large diagram of the brain featuring chromosomes, bacteria and other microbes.

The link between maternal infection and autism, explained

by  /  13 December 2022

Having an infection during pregnancy is tied to a small increase in the chances of having an autistic child, but the connection may not be causal.

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An illustration of doctors examining a larger-than-life DNA strand

Whole-genome trove ties new genes, variants to autism

by  /  12 December 2022

A massive update to the MSSNG dataset gives qualified researchers ready access to explore autism’s genetic architecture on a cloud-based platform.

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Mapping tool reveals microglia’s shape-shifting secrets

by  /  9 December 2022

The approach could help test hypotheses about how atypical function of the brain’s immune cells contributes to autism.

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lllustration of the junction between two nerve cells.

Multi-omics study captures CNTNAP2’s far-ranging effects

by  /  8 December 2022

The in-depth approach shows mutations in the autism-linked gene disrupt neuronal growth and communication, as well as mitochondrial gene expression.

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Image from an open-source programming tool that overlays microscopy images in 3D and pinpoints where neurons connect.

Microscopy mash-up quantifies, maps neural circuits

by  /  7 December 2022

A new method that merges tissue expansion, light-sheet microscopy and automated image segmentation can reconstruct neural circuits in about a week.

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Neural progenitor cells in a culture medium, color-enhanced scanning electron micrograph (SEM).

Autism subgroups converge on cell growth pathway

by  /  5 December 2022

Faulty mTOR signaling, implicated in syndromic forms of autism, also hinders cells grown from people with idiopathic autism or autism-linked deletions on chromosome 16.

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