SFN 2016
Gene on chromosome 16 may be valuable player in autism
Deleting one copy of a gene called MVP impairs the brain's ability to adapt to changes in the environment.
Spectrum: Autism Research News
NEWS /
Society for Neuroscience 2016
SFN 2016
Ecstasy ingredient touted as treatment for anxiety in autism
The active ingredient in the drug popularly known as ecstasy eases social anxiety in people with autism.
SFN 2016
In autism, brain’s emotion hub begins with too many cells
The amygdala, a brain region that governs emotions, may be enlarged and overly connected in children with autism, but it shrinks as the children grow up.
SFN 2016
Microglia may have only small appetite for synapses
Microglia come into frequent contact with synapses, the connections between neurons, but they appear to nibble on them rather than engulf and digest them.
March 2018
November 2016
SFN 2016
Takeaways from SfN 2016
Spectrum’s team reported about 50 stories at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego. One big theme this year: how autism relates to bigger questions in neuroscience.
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SFN 2016
Autism treatments may normalize brain volume in adult mice
The effects of autism mutations on brain volume might be reversible, even in a mature brain.
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SFN 2016
Genes, immune exposure collude to up autism risk
The interplay between a mouse’s immune system and certain mutations in her pups may increase autism-like features in the pups.
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SFN 2016
New mice expose consequences of key autism gene
Mice with an extra copy of the autism risk gene UBE3A have cognitive deficits and anxiety, but do not show any core features of the condition.
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SFN 2016
New test scores emotional weight of parent-child connections
Videos of mothers and their infants interacting with each other may contain clues to autism risk.
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SFN 2016
New tool takes rapid genetic snapshot of people’s neurons
A new approach quickly captures an individual’s gene expression pattern at the level of a single neuron.
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SFN 2016
Parade of mice with top autism mutation puzzles scientists
Mice missing one copy of a top autism gene show many of the features seen in people with the mutation — but not social deficits.
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SFN 2016
Diverse paths to autism may converge on shared cellular features
Neural stem cells derived from boys with autism of unknown cause may share genetic, chemical and physical features absent in cells from their typical brothers.
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SFN 2016
Extra dose of Rett syndrome gene alters brain waves in monkeys
Monkeys with multiple copies of the gene MeCP2 have irregular brain waves similar to those seen in some children with autism.