David Ledbetter is chief clinical officer of Dascena, a personalized medicine company.
David Ledbetter
Chief clinical officer
Dascena
From this contributor
There are no autism-specific genes, just brain genes
There is not yet a single example of a gene that, when mutated, increases the likelihood of autism but not of other neurodevelopmental conditions, including intellectual disability.

There are no autism-specific genes, just brain genes
Developmental disorders should be viewed as continuum
Intellectual disability, autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia should be considered part of a spectrum of developmental brain dysfunction, says David Ledbetter.

Developmental disorders should be viewed as continuum
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It’s time to examine neural coding from the message’s point of view
In studying the brain, we almost always take the neuron’s perspective. But we can gain new insights by reorienting our frame of reference to that of the messages flowing over brain networks.
It’s time to examine neural coding from the message’s point of view
In studying the brain, we almost always take the neuron’s perspective. But we can gain new insights by reorienting our frame of reference to that of the messages flowing over brain networks.
Autism traits, mental health conditions interact in sex-dependent ways in early development
Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 31 March.

Autism traits, mental health conditions interact in sex-dependent ways in early development
Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 31 March.
Organoids and assembloids offer a new window into human brain
These sophisticated 3D cultures reveal previously inaccessible stages of human brain development and enable the systematic study of disease genes.

Organoids and assembloids offer a new window into human brain
These sophisticated 3D cultures reveal previously inaccessible stages of human brain development and enable the systematic study of disease genes.