Sleep disruption early in life has long-lasting consequences for mice missing a copy of the autism-linked gene SHANK3, according to an unpublished study presented virtually yesterday at the 2021 Society for Neuroscience Global Connectome. (Links to abstracts may work only for registered conference a…

Five collaborations involving autistic scientists and experts are advancing autism research, from lending support for theories of the condition to shoring up trials of new treatments. The post The promise of scientific partnerships with people on the spectrum appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Rese…

Children with autism may have a subtly different set of bacteria in their gut than their non-autistic siblings, according to unpublished data presented virtually on Tuesday at the 2021 Society for Neuroscience Global Connectome. The prospect that manipulating the microbiome could ease gastrointestin…

Excess UBE3A, an autism-linked protein, may shape how neurons fire, according to unpublished research presented virtually on Monday at the 2021 Society for Neuroscience Global Connectome. (Links to abstracts may work only for registered conference attendees.) The findings may offer an explanation fo…

After 3 days, 12 panels, 67 socials and 2,000-plus poster sessions, the 2021 Society for Neuroscience Global Connectome came to a close on Wednesday. The conference — the society’s first since it cancelled its 2020 annual meeting this past October because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic — was al…

Autistic children have a harder time catching a ball than non-autistic children do, possibly because they are less able to predict its trajectory, according to a new unpublished study. Researchers presented the findings virtually this week at the 2021 Society for Neuroscience Global Connectome. The …

Infusions of the hormone oxytocin make mice that model autism more social by normalizing brain activity patterns. Researchers presented the findings virtually yesterday at the 2021 Society for Neuroscience Global Connectome. (Links to abstracts may work only for registered conference attendees.) The…

Children with dup15q syndrome have telltale patterns of brain activity during sleep and get less non-REM sleep than neurotypical children do, according to new research. These characteristics could serve as biomarkers and targets for treatments, say the researchers, who presented the unpublished find…

Deleting the autism-linked gene CNTNAP2 from mice leads to distinct cellular and electrical changes in the cerebellum, according to two unpublished studies presented virtually today at the 2021 Society for Neuroscience Global Connectome. (Links to abstracts may work only for registered conference at…

The population of older people with autism is set to increase dramatically in the coming decades, but there is little research on how autism affects middle-aged and older adults. Two preliminary studies presented virtually Monday and Tuesday at the 2021 Society for Neuroscience Global Connectome sug…

Mutations seen in only some of the body’s cells often affect gene activity in the brains of people with autism, and can involve large segments of DNA, according to two new studies published today in Nature Neuroscience. These ‘mosaic’ mutations throughout the brain and body could be important contri…

Mice treated with oxytocin show signs of new neuron growth in the hippocampus and changes in social behavior — but not immediately after they finish treatment, according to unpublished research. Researchers presented the findings virtually today at the 2021 Society for Neuroscience Global Connectome…

Hi there, and welcome to the Spectrum community newsletter! I’m your host, Chelsey B. Coombs, Spectrum’s engagement editor. I hope you had a great holiday break, but now that we’re all back to work, let’s jump in. Our first tweet thread this week comes from Yuki Kamitani, a neuroscientist and profes…

The post Spotted around the web: Autism in Kenya, oxytocin delivery, intellectual disability genes appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News