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Spectrum: Autism Research News

Tag: macrocephaly

September 2023
Research image of organoids in the forebrain.

Head size parts autism into two major subtypes

by  /  12 September 2023

An imbalance in the number of excitatory neurons in early brain development may account for the difference.

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May 2023
Composite research image of organoids at several stages of development.

Genetic background sways effects of autism-linked mutation

by  /  18 May 2023

Experiments offer clues to why certain mutations are associated with autism in some people and not others.

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February 2023
A white mouse, brown mouse and black mouse stand inside a wooden circle against a blue background.

CHD8 mutation in 33 mouse strains yields range of traits

by  /  3 February 2023

The findings put genetic background forward to help explain autism’s heterogeneity.

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November 2022
Geometric black-and-white brain model over a grid.

Excess of ‘don’t eat me’ cell signals may drive brain enlargement in autism

by  /  22 November 2022

The signal, called CD47, is disrupted in autistic people who have a larger-than-average head.

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Three scans of zebrafish brains.

Zebrafish point to new gene involved in brain overgrowth, autism

by  /  1 November 2022

The gene, YTHDF2, has not previously been linked to autism.

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October 2022
A woman in a lab coat types at a computer.

New diagnostic code for PTEN syndrome may spur research

by  /  3 October 2022

The code may help scientists identify people with the autism-linked condition and recruit them into clinical trials.

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June 2022

Different forms of autism have opposite problems with brain precursor cells

by  /  10 June 2022

The cells’ altered proliferation rates hint at ways to diagnose and potentially treat autism earlier.

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May 2022
Three views of zebrafish.

Novel gene linked to brain size in autistic people

by  /  16 May 2022

The gene, YTHDF2, may be one of several that contribute to an autism subtype marked by an unusually big brain.

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April 2022
organoids in early stages of development.

Organoids show how mutations in top autism gene may lead to brain overgrowth in people

by  /  19 April 2022

The loss of CHD8, a top autism gene, speeds up the production of certain neurons and leads to overgrowth in spheres of cultured brain cells.

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February 2022

Three autism-linked genes converge on tweaks to cells’ timing

by  /  2 February 2022

Mutations in all three accelerate the maturation of inhibitory neurons, which could upset the brain’s balance of excitation and inhibition early in development.

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