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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.

April 2023
Research image of radial glial cells in a human brain organoid.

Immune molecule alters cellular makeup of human brain organoids

by  /  5 April 2023

The changes may help explain the link between maternal infection and autism, though more research is needed.

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Closeup photograph of an infant lying in a bassinet under white sheets with their left hand lifted close to their ear.

New technique details brainstem’s response to sounds

by  /  4 April 2023

By revealing differences between autistic and non-autistic children, it could help identify autism in babies.

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March 2023
Research illustration of three brain diagrams.

Brain connectivity, behavior flag four autism subtypes

by  /  31 March 2023

A machine-learning technique applied to brain imaging data appears to predict a person’s mix of verbal intelligence, social affect and repetitive behaviors.

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Research image of the posterior insular cortex.

Maternal immune response dulls male rats’ social radar

by  /  27 March 2023

Male rats prenatally exposed to a maternal immune response have atypical responses to other rats in distress, according to a new study.

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Still image showing activity of activity of neurons with genetic mutations in the 15q11-13 chromosomal region.

Single gene insufficient to account for dup15q, Angelman traits

by  /  21 March 2023

UBE3A, a key gene associated with both autism-linked conditions, can explain most — but not all — of the syndromes’ atypical neuronal properties.

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Wearable device records, stimulates single neurons in people on the go

by  /  17 March 2023

The tool connects to electrodes implanted in people with epilepsy or other brain conditions and can monitor and regulate neurons during everyday activities.

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MRI scan with a section enlarged to display the scan's grey-white boundary.

Brain imaging do-over offers clues to field’s replication problem

by  /  13 March 2023

Methodological choices and study-site artifacts confounded an attempt to replicate findings in support of an autism brain-imaging biomarker, according to new unpublished work.

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Still from research video displaying wiring map of a fruit fly's brain.

Wiring map reveals how larval fruit fly brain converts sensory signals to movement

by  /  9 March 2023

The map diagrams more than half a million neuronal connections in the first complete connectome of Drosophila and holds clues about which brain architectures best support learning.

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A grid of brain scans.

To repair DNA, neurons harness autism-linked proteins

by  /  6 March 2023

The proteins are part of a newly discovered complex that mends genetic damage exclusively in neurons.

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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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