Purkinje cells

Recent articles

A slice of a cerebellum.

Mutation in top autism-linked gene may alter eye reflex

The discovery could help clinicians diagnose children who carry mutations in the gene, called SCN2A, and gauge their responses to potential therapies.

By Charles Q. Choi
26 February 2024 | 5 min read
Illustration of hybrid objects: part light bulb, part lab vial, some in blue and some in red to signify null and replicated results.

Null and Noteworthy: Brain aging, oxytocin pathways, biomarker back-up

Null and replicated results in this month’s newsletter tackle aging, a purported pathway for oxytocin’s effects on autistic people, and a possible autism biomarker.

By Emily Harris
15 September 2022 | 5 min read

Mouse study links dopamine in cerebellum to social behavior

The signaling molecule’s social role in the ‘little brain’ involves Purkinje neurons in the Crus I and Crus II regions, a new study reveals.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
6 July 2022 | 5 min read

Mice missing key clock gene show autism-like traits

A new study is the first to link social, repetitive and motor behaviors to mutations in BMAL1, which regulates the body’s circadian rhythms.

By Laura Dattaro
28 April 2022 | 5 min read

Autism model mice develop typical social and motor behaviors after drug treatment

The drug suppresses an overactive signaling pathway implicated in tuberous sclerosis complex.

By Laura Dattaro
9 March 2022 | 5 min read
lab mice

Mice with autism-related mutations show brain signaling imbalance

Mutations in POGZ, a gene strongly linked to autism, lead to a signaling imbalance in multiple brain regions in mice, according to two new studies.

By Angie Voyles Askham
4 January 2021 | 7 min read
Illustration showing the human brain with neurons made out of flower shapes and the cerebellum highlighted in gold and yellow.

Brain’s motor hub plays unsung role in social skills, cognition

Long known as the director of movement, the cerebellum may also coordinate social and cognitive abilities, including those central to autism.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
9 March 2020 | 7 min read

Fake autism claim; knocking out anesthesia; haunting milestone and more

Despite social media rumors, a British children’s television show does not cause autism; childhood anesthesia is not tied to autism risk; and an adult on the spectrum reaches a haunting milestone

By Emily Willingham
23 February 2018 | 5 min read
four brains with the RCrusl section highlighted

Study of cerebellum’s role in autism homes in on ‘social’ region

New evidence from both people and mice points to a part of the cerebellum that helps process social information as being critical in autism.

By Hannah Furfaro
18 December 2017 | 5 min read

Timed cues create mini-cerebellum in culture

Researchers can coax human stem cells to grow into layered structures that mimic the brain’s center for motor control, the cerebellum.

By Maris Fessenden
25 February 2015 | 3 min read

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Rajesh Rao reflects on predictive brains, neural interfaces and the future of human intelligence

Twenty-five years ago, Rajesh Rao proposed a seminal theory of how brains could implement predictive coding for perception. His modern version zeroes in on actions.

By Paul Middlebrooks
18 December 2024 | 97 min listen

In memoriam: Yves Frégnac, influential and visionary French neuroscientist

Frégnac, who died on 18 October at the age of 73, built his career by meeting neuroscience’s complexity straight on.

By Bahar Gholipour
18 December 2024 | 9 min read
Illustration shows a solitary figure moving through a green and blue field of dots moving at different rates.

Explaining ‘the largest unexplained number in brain science’: Q&A with Markus Meister and Jieyu Zheng

The human brain takes in sensory information roughly 100 million times faster than it can respond. Neuroscientists need to explore this perceptual paradox to better understand the limits of the brain, Meister and Zheng say.

By Claudia López Lloreda
17 December 2024 | 8 min read