Treatments

Delivering a fragment of the Rett syndrome gene MECP2 into neurons eases features of the syndrome in a mouse model.

Some drugs used to treat epilepsy may harm children who are exposed to them in the womb or through breast milk.

Music therapy does not alleviate autism features, according to a large international study.

Microscopic balls of brain and blood vessel cells mimic the barrier that protects the brain from foreign invaders.

People with autism who have a mood disorder or sleep problems are more likely to be admitted to inpatient psychiatric units than those who do not have one of these other conditions.

Turning on a set of neurons that dampen brain activity improves social behavior in a mouse model of autism; turning off neurons that excite brain activity does the same thing.

A drug that keeps neurons bathed in the chemical messenger serotonin prevents social abnormalities in a mouse model of dup15q syndrome.