Efforts to ease the symptoms of autism are beginning to ramp up, with promising candidates in various stages of testing.
Insulin-like growth factor 2, a hormone involved in fetal growth, reverses abnormal social behaviors, repetitive behaviors and memory impairments in BTBR mice, a popular model of autism. The unpublished results were presented Monday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.
The drug propranolol improves social behavior and cognition in teenagers and young adults with autism, suggest results from a small trial presented Sunday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.
Rat models of autism have a weak and sluggish brain response to speech sounds, but behavioral training can improve their performance. The unpublished results, presented Sunday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego, suggest that a similar approach may benefit people with the disorder.
Two new studies bolster the emerging idea that microglia, cells that were long dismissed as passive soldiers of the brain’s immune system, are in fact actively involved in shoring up connections between neurons. The unpublished work was presented Sunday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.
Researchers have recreated one of the most popular rodent models of autism in a decidedly slimier animal: the tadpole. The unpublished study was presented Sunday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.
Researchers have created software that can design customized molecular scissors to edit the genomes of living cells. The program, called TALENSeek, was presented in a poster Saturday afternoon at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.
Mutations in a gene that plays a role in producing cholesterol in the body increase the risk for autism, suggesting therapies for some people with the disorder, according to research presented in a poster Tuesday at the Autism Consortium’s 2013 Research Symposium.
Many people diagnosed with a set of rare disorders called RASopathies also have autism, but those symptoms often go untreated.
Researchers have coaxed human stem cells to develop into simplified mini-brains, with regions resembling discrete brain structures, they reported 19 September in Nature.
Two new studies examine disruptive behavior and loneliness among adults with autism, generally a poorly studied group.
