The Brain

A new atlas profiles gene activity early on during development in the human fetal brain.

Mutations in CHD8 lead to brain overgrowth or undergrowth in mice, depending on how they affect the gene’s expression.

A typically protective stress response could help to explain the connection between maternal illness and neurodevelopmental conditions.

A growing body of evidence shows that brain cells called oligodendrocytes may play a larger role in autism than previously thought.

Researchers have devised a way to use fluorescent sensors to detect many different signaling molecules in a cell at once.

3D cultures of human brain cells kept alive for more than a year undergo transitions in gene activity that resemble those seen in newborns, and may be used to study autism genes in postnatal stages of brain development.

Some neurons activate autism-linked genes when they fire, according to a new study.

Spectrum spoke with three Black scientists about why they got into autism research, what keeps them excited about their work and how the field could become more diverse.