Mice with an extra copy of the autism risk gene UBE3A have cognitive deficits and anxiety. But they do not show core autism features, such as repetitive behaviors and social difficulties. Researchers described the new mouse model yesterday at the 2016 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San D…

Deleting one copy of a gene called MVP, or major vault protein, impairs the brain’s ability to adapt to changes in the environment. MVP is located within the chromosomal region 16p11.2, which is strongly linked to autism. The unpublished findings, presented yesterday at the 2016 Society for Ne…

The post CRISPR in the clinic; autism app; women only appeared first on Spectrum. Source: Spectrum News

The interplay between a mouse’s immune system and certain mutations in her pups may increase autism-like features in the pups. That’s the upshot from several studies presented this week at the 2016 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego. Specifically, some teams are exploring the role …

By Patrick Jasper Lee This film is a dedication to some of the great artists, writers, and composers and their contribution to to our understanding of life. Many of these artists if they were living today would have been given labels of autism, bipolar or schizophrenia. “Tomorrow We Won’…

What can autism grandparents do for their adult children and grandchildren? A lot, actually.Source: The Autism Site

After five days featuring hundreds of posters, presentations and symposia, the 46th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) has come to a close. More than 30,000 people attended SfN this year in San Diego, enough to power a small army. From two new CHD8 mouse models to ‘mini-brain’ assa…

A new approach quickly captures an individual’s gene expression pattern at the level of a single neuron. Researchers presented the unpublished method yesterday at the 2016 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego. The tool marries two existing techniques: a method of sampling cells from …

It’s always great to spend time together as a family. but keeping everyone amused can be a challenge, especially when one or more of your kids has special needs. A new TV comedy show illustrates how one family copes with these challenges, but whether you take a family vacation or spend time together…

I am a special education teacher interested in learning more about educating for inclusion. How can I set up my small groups to target skills that will serve my students well in the classroom?   Answered by Renita Paranjape, M.Ed., BCBA, Director, Intake, IBI and Group and Transition Services, Genev…

It began with a boy in a cape. He looks like any other boy but his brain is wired differently. So the kids at school and the people in his community treated him differently, and not in a good way. They were “aware” of autism, but they didn’t understand it. “Better to ignore him,” they thought. “Or m…

Mice missing one copy of a top autism gene show many of the features seen in people with the mutation — but not social deficits. With two new models described at the 2016 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego, there are now four sets of mice that each lack a copy of the gene, CHD8. Th…

The active ingredient in the drug popularly known as ecstasy eases social anxiety in people with autism, and the effects last months after the treatment’s end. Researchers presented the preliminary findings yesterday at the 2016 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego. The researchers c…

The main challenge I faced as parent of an adult on the spectrum faces was how to direct Colin’s remarkable talents and passions into a fulfilled, meaningful and impactful life. By Donald Cohen My son, Colin, blows me away every day. He is 28 years old and was diagnosed with Asperger’s at a young …