Hear, hear: A comparison of brain activity in three genetic models of autism demonstrated different mechanisms that lead to changes in auditory processing, according to a new study in zebrafish. The genetic lines examined—each carrying variants of FMR1, MECP2 or CNTNAP2—displayed altered sensory behaviors, such as hyper-responsiveness and reduced habituation. As for brain circuitry, the […]
Upstream movers: Mice deficient in the autism-linked gene CHD8 have altered structure and function of excitatory neurons, synapses and circuits, according to a new study. The animals developed atypically large heads, consistent with a similar effect observed in humans with CHD8 variants. But this macroencephaly was not accompanied by more or bigger neurons. Still, glutamate-containing […]
Connecting threads: Transcriptional changes seen in cortical organoids derived from people with dup15q syndrome are consistent with those detected in postmortem brain samples, according to a new study. Affected processes included increased glycolysis, disrupted marker expression and aberrant morphology. Previous work by this research group found parallels between dup15q syndrome and idiopathic autism. The investigators […]
Visual cues: Sensory neurons in the retina display altered structure and function in a mouse model of fragile X syndrome, according to a new study. Retinal ganglion cells—homologous to primate ganglion cells—received more inhibitory input and were less responsive to light in mice lacking the gene FMR1 compared with the same cells in wildtype mice. […]
