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Spectrum: Autism Research News

Tag: neural circuits

March 2023
Mother and child rhesus macaque monkeys.

Serotonin initiates earliest social bonds

by  /  2 March 2023

Mice and rats, for example, gravitate toward their mother’s bedding over bedding that is clean or smells of a different dam.

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January 2023
Research image showing the impact of a gene mutation on a synapse.

Tweaks to autism-linked pathway tilt circuits’ signaling balance

by  /  31 January 2023

Altered expression of TSC2 and the mTOR pathway reshape the formation of certain synapses between inhibitory and excitatory neurons in mice.

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Research image showing neuronal activity in mice exposed to high-frequency sounds.

Missing mechanism helps solve fragile X protein mystery

by  /  24 January 2023

Cells from people with fragile X syndrome overproduce — but don’t accumulate — proteins. New work suggests that excessive protein breakdown may account for this discrepancy, and explain some of the syndrome’s traits.

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December 2022
Gavin Rumbaugh stands on a beach with his family: his wife, dog and child.

Beyond the bench: Finding balance with Gavin Rumbaugh

by  /  15 December 2022

Rumbaugh, who studies how the autism-linked gene SYNGAP1 shapes brain development, describes how he has embraced coastal living and which aspects of his career he wouldn’t do over.

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Illustration of a pregnant woman seated next to a large diagram of the brain featuring chromosomes, bacteria and other microbes.

The link between maternal infection and autism, explained

by  /  13 December 2022

Having an infection during pregnancy is tied to a small increase in the chances of having an autistic child, but the connection may not be causal.

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Image from an open-source programming tool that overlays microscopy images in 3D and pinpoints where neurons connect.

Microscopy mash-up quantifies, maps neural circuits

by  /  7 December 2022

A new method that merges tissue expansion, light-sheet microscopy and automated image segmentation can reconstruct neural circuits in about a week.

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October 2022
A transplanted human organoid labeled with a fluorescent protein in a section of the rat brain.

Human cortical organoids forge functional circuits in rat brains

by  /  12 October 2022

The transplanted cells integrate into living animals’ neural circuitry and influence behavior.

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September 2022

Oxytocin lessons from autism-linked syndromes: A chat with Christian Schaaf and Ferdinand Althammer

by  /  7 September 2022

Oxytocin therapies have failed to consistently benefit autistic people, but their effects in people with two autism-linked conditions may yield new insights, experts argue.

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August 2022

Of mice and human interneurons: A Q&A with Moritz Helmstaedter

by  /  1 August 2022

People’s brains have a larger network of inhibitory interneurons than mouse brains do, according to a new study. Changes to that network could contribute to autism or other conditions, says lead investigator Moritz Helmstaedter.

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July 2022
A cross-section of the human brain and limbic system

Amygdala-linked brain areas grow differently in autism

by  /  13 July 2022

The growth differences vary between autistic boys and girls and are most apparent among children with prominent social difficulties.

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