SFN 2016

Recent articles

Ecstasy ingredient touted as treatment for anxiety in autism

The active ingredient in the drug popularly known as ecstasy eases social anxiety in people with autism.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
25 September 2018 | 4 min read
extra neuronal connections may sprout from the amygdala, a brain region governing fear

In autism, brain’s emotion hub begins with too many cells

The amygdala, a brain region that governs emotions, may be enlarged and overly connected in children with autism, but it shrinks as the children grow up.

By Jessica Wright
6 April 2018 | 5 min read
A microglia cell (red), touches the signal-receiving ends of neurons (green) in the brain

Microglia may have only small appetite for synapses

Microglia come into frequent contact with synapses, the connections between neurons, but they appear to nibble on them rather than engulf and digest them.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
2 April 2018 | 5 min read
closeup of a mouse eye

Gene on chromosome 16 may be valuable player in autism

Deleting one copy of a gene called MVP impairs the brain's ability to adapt to changes in the environment.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
29 March 2018 | 4 min read

Takeaways from SfN 2016

Spectrum’s team reported about 50 stories at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego. One big theme this year: how autism relates to bigger questions in neuroscience.

By Claire Cameron
17 November 2016 | 3 min read

New test scores emotional weight of parent-child connections

Videos of mothers and their infants interacting with each other may contain clues to autism risk.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
17 November 2016 | 3 min read

Autism treatments may normalize brain volume in adult mice

The effects of autism mutations on brain volume might be reversible, even in a mature brain.

By Jessica Wright
17 November 2016 | 4 min read
Mouse brain hippocampus

New mice expose consequences of key autism gene

Mice with an extra copy of the autism risk gene UBE3A have cognitive deficits and anxiety, but do not show any core features of the condition.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
17 November 2016 | 3 min read

Genes, immune exposure collude to up autism risk

The interplay between a mouse’s immune system and certain mutations in her pups may increase autism-like features in the pups.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
17 November 2016 | 3 min read

New tool takes rapid genetic snapshot of people’s neurons

A new approach quickly captures an individual’s gene expression pattern at the level of a single neuron.

By Ann Griswold
17 November 2016 | 2 min read

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The MacArthur Foundation “genius” discusses his return to his home state of Minnesota and why it’s important to protect the developing brain.

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Roundup: The false association between vaccines and autism

In light of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s U.S. Senate confirmation hearings this week, The Transmitter has rounded up our past coverage of the false association between vaccines and autism.

By The Transmitter
31 January 2025 | 1 min read

Static pay, shrinking prospects fuel neuroscience postdoc decline

Postdoctoral researchers sponsored by the National Institutes of Health now toil longer than ever before, for less money. They are responding accordingly.

By Katie Moisse
31 January 2025 | 20 min read