Spectrum: Autism Research News

Thomas Bourgeron discovered the first rare mutation linked to non-syndromic autism, pointing to neuronal connections as prime drug targets.

Our coverage of the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting ran the gamut from feral monkeys to the language of mice and new treatments for fragile X syndrome.

Prenatal exposure to antibodies collected from the mothers of children with autism boosts stem cell proliferation in the brains of mice, according to two studies presented at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.

Neural stem cells derived from people with Rett syndrome show early signs of dysfunction, according to unpublished research presented at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting.

The brain’s response to biological motion can distinguish typically developing children from those who have a sibling with autism but do not have the disorder themselves, according to research presented at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.

The first wave of data from the Human Connectome Project, a five-year $30 million effort to map the structure of the human brain, is now freely available, researchers announced at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.

An in-depth analysis of tissue from a large number of autism brains eases some of the qualms about their use in research, according to a poster presented Monday at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.

People with a certain variant in RBFOX1, a gene linked to autism risk, have a smaller temporal lobe than those with other variants, according to research presented Monday at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.

An analysis of the expression patterns of 26 autism candidate genes identifies 4 whose expression coincides in a part of the cerebellum, according to research presented at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.

Researchers are testing a wealth of new treatments for fragile X syndrome, an inherited intellectual disability often accompanied by autism. They presented preliminary results from animal studies of several drugs, as well as an automated approach for screening compounds, Sunday at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.