Prader-Willi syndrome

Recent articles

Oxytocin lessons from autism-linked syndromes: A chat with Christian Schaaf and Ferdinand Althammer

Oxytocin therapies have failed to consistently benefit autistic people, but their effects in people with two autism-linked conditions may yield new insights, experts argue.

By Peter Hess
7 September 2022 | 4 min read

Dispatches from SfN 2021: Mitochondria, Rett therapy and oxytocin

These short reports from Spectrum journalists highlight some of the autism-related findings that caught our attention at the meeting this past week.

By Angie Voyles Askham, Laura Dattaro, Anna Goshua, Peter Hess
11 November 2021 | 9 min read
Colorful, playful illustrated scene of ewborns on a conveyor belt moving past researchers holding a long, long list.

The push to screen newborns for rare autism-linked genetic conditions

As treatments for some autism-linked genetic conditions inch closer to the clinic, researchers are talking more urgently about screening all newborns for such conditions.

By Laura Dattaro
28 July 2021 | 9 min read
Colorful illustration shows two researchers examining messy data.

How to safeguard online data collection against fraud

When autism researcher Clare Harrop tried to recruit survey participants over social media, she received hundreds of fraudulent responses. But there are ways researchers can protect themselves from similar experiences.

By Grace Huckins
30 March 2021 | 7 min read
Mouse brain slices shown in red

Vasopressin relieves social deficits in an autism mouse model

Mice missing a copy of MAGEL2 have trouble discerning between a familiar mouse and an unfamiliar one; treating them with the social hormone vasopressin reverses this deficit.

By Peter Hess
25 January 2021 | 4 min read
Woman with autism hears social noise, but is soothed by the sounds of a lullaby

Brain-body connection may ease autistic people’s social problems

An auditory therapy may improve autistic people's emotional control and help them feel safe enough to engage with the world.

By Stephen Porges
20 August 2019 | 7 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Data visualization from a genome-wide association study.

Revised statistical bar extracts less-common variants from autism genetics studies

Adjusting genetic analyses could help plug autism’s heritability gap, according to a new preprint.

By Holly Barker
12 March 2026 | 4 min read

Tom Griffiths describes how neural networks, logic and probability theory together explain cognition

In his new book, “The Laws of Thought,” Griffiths shows how these three pillars of study complement one another and together form a solid foundation to eventually explain all of our cognition, from brain to mind.

By Paul Middlebrooks
11 March 2026 | 100 min listen
Illustration of dopamine neurons.

This paper changed my life: Talia Lerner reflects on dopamine neuron diversity and the value of simple experiments

In a 2011 Neuron study, Stephan Lammel and his colleagues showed that dopamine neurons with different projections have different physiological properties. The work inspired Lerner to think about how to challenge widely held assumptions in the field.

By Talia Lerner
11 March 2026 | 6 min read

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