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Spectrum: Autism Research News

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The Brain

Charting the structure and function of the brain’s many circuits may unravel autism’s mysteries.

December 2012

Coloring book

by  /  10 December 2012

Sebastian Seung invites an online community of citizen scientists to revolutionize neuroscience by mapping connections between the brain’s neurons.

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What does a genetic mosaic tell us?

by  /  10 December 2012

New work suggests that the skin, a common source for deriving induced pluripotent stem cells, is a genetic mosaic. What does this mean for stem cell research? Are there implications for the human brain?

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Autism-linked protein sets pace for brain development

by  /  10 December 2012

Mutations in SYNGAP1, which are associated with severe intellectual disability and an increased risk of autism, do damage by speeding up the rate at which neuronal connections mature, according to a mouse study published 9 November in Cell.

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Molecular mechanisms: Star cells abnormal in autism brains

by  /  7 December 2012

Postmortem brains from individuals with autism have astrocytes that are smaller but denser than in control brains, according to a study published 21 September in the Journal of Neuroinflammation. The researchers found similar alterations in a mouse that lacks the autism-linked gene NLGN3.

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Perspective: Imaging autism

by  /  6 December 2012

Several studies in the past two years have claimed that brain scans can diagnose autism, but this assertion is deeply flawed, says Nicholas Lange.

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Perspective: Brain scans need a rethink

by ,  /  6 December 2012

Head movement can bias brain imaging results, undermining a leading theory on the cause of autism, say Ben Deen and Kevin Pelphrey.

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Child development: The first steps

by  /  6 December 2012

Because infants born into families with autism are more likely to develop the condition, studying them might lead to ways to diagnose people in the general population earlier.

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Genetics: Searching for answers

by  /  6 December 2012

Solving the riddle of autism genetics will require looking beyond the growing list of candidate genes to epigenetics and personalized medicine.

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Study allays fears about usefulness of induced stem cells

by  /  6 December 2012

Some of the genetic variability seen in stem cells derived from skin arises from differences in the skin cells themselves, according to a study published 18 November in Nature. The findings have implications for both stem cell research and our understanding of human biology.

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Genetics: 22q11.2 deletion symptoms cluster into two groups

by  /  4 December 2012

Children with a deletion in the 22q11.2 chromosomal region have one of two distinct sets of symptoms, and only one of those is associated with autism, according to a study published 28 August in Research in Developmental Disabilities.

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