Deep brain structures—including the striatum and thalamus—are more dysregulated in some people with autism than was previously recognized, according to two new preprints that analyze multiple brain regions. During mid-gestation, genes linked to profound autism are most active in the thalamus, one of the studies found. And people with variants and chromosomal alterations linked to […]
Multiple mouse and human brain atlases track the emergence of distinct cell types during development and uncover some of the pathways that decide a cell’s fate. The findings were published today in a collection of Nature papers. The papers highlight the timing and location of cell diversification and offer fresh insights into the evolution of […]
Male and female human fetuses show distinct patterns of gene activity and DNA regulation in the cerebral cortex, according to a new analysis of thousands of individual brain cells. The study offers one of the most detailed maps to date of how such activity differs between boys and girls’ brains during the second trimester. It […]
Butterfly effect: Disabling the ATRX gene in forebrain excitatory neurons during embryogenesis alters brain size, structure and connectivity in adult mice, according to a new preprint. Previous work has shown that this intervention induces autism-like behaviors and thus appears to model ATR-X syndrome in people. ATRX-deficient mice of both sexes were smaller than controls, but […]
Over the objections of the authors, the editors of Nature have retracted a 2022 paper on the cellular origins of medulloblastoma after an independent team’s reanalysis questioned the paper’s key findings. The reanalysis was published as a Matters Arising article today in Nature at the same time as the retraction notice. The 2022 paper, led […]
Early overgrowth: In their first few weeks of development, organoids with two intact copies of CHD8 (top) developed excitatory neurons more slowly than organoids missing a copy of the gene (bottom). Editor’s Note This article was originally published 11 January 2021, based on preliminary findings presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting. The results […]
The Importance of Heart For thousands of years humans have considered the heart as the center of the universe. Indeed, in deference to this idea Egyptian royalty was buried with all organs removed except the heart. Our own society in 2012 continues this myth by relating many emotions such as love, hurt, grief and passion […]
Illustration by Laurenne Boglio Longer days in the Northern Hemisphere, longer threads about autism research on Twitter — welcome to the first Community Newsletter from Spectrum this February. Liz Pellicano, professor of education at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, threaded together 14 tweets full of COVID-19 lockdown lessons for autism education. The insights, published in […]
Social Boost: In a mouse model with impaired social behavior, an oxytocin injection activates a specific set of circuits. publisher’s Note This article was originally published as Conference Proceedings from the 2021 Society for Neuroscience Global Connectome Meeting on January 13, 2021. The results have since been published in Neuron. Infusions of the hormone oxytocin […]
research summary According to research in pediatric oncology, pediatricians may need more training to help families access school accommodation, particularly with virtual or hybrid learning formats. JAMA Pediatrics One in four people with a PTEN gene mutation has autism or features of it, according to a review of studies. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders Modeling of […]
Research summary Analysis of the proteins in the stool of autistic children revealed altered levels of specific gut microbes and enzymes that metabolize carbohydrates. Journal of Proteomics Two commercially available wireless heart rate trackers are convenient and reliable for use with autistic children. Autism research Nutritional problems in children, especially those that persist into the […]
Subdued response: Organoids with microglia (bottom) show a lower interferon response (red) than organoids without microglia (top), suggesting that these immune cells help reduce cell stress. Adding non-neural brain cells called microglia to cortical organoids speeds up the rate of maturation of their neurons, increases the synchronization of their firing, and appears to reduce cellular […]
