SFN 2010

Recent articles

Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Movement study supports ‘extreme-male brain’ hypothesis

People with autism are slower than controls at interpreting emotions expressed by physical movement, researchers reported Wednesday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

By Deborah Rudacille
19 November 2010 | 3 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Modeling captures mouse habitat’s effect on neurons

Computerized three-dimensional modeling shows nerve cell abnormalities in the hippocampus of fragile X mice — and suggests the importance of raising experimental mice in more natural habitats, according to a poster presented Wednesday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
19 November 2010 | 2 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Antibiotic proves promising as fragile X treatment

Minocycline, an antibiotic approved to treat various infections including acne, can increase vocalizations and provide long-lasting improvements in anxiety in a fragile X mouse model, according to two posters presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

By Jessica Wright
19 November 2010 | 3 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Video: Live from the brain, it’s neuron development

Brain cells communicate across complex junctions called synapses, filled with proteins working to bind neurons together. Kurt Haas of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver has developed a method to watch neuron development in the growing tadpole brain.

By Jessica Wright
19 November 2010 | 1 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Mouse model hints at Alzheimer’s therapies for fragile X

Lowering the levels of proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease can improve symptoms of fragile X syndrome in mice, according to a poster presented Wednesday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
19 November 2010 | 3 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Congressman Kennedy calls for neuroscience ‘moonshot’

Sharing stories about his own family’s struggles with neurological disease, Patrick J. Kennedy, a Democratic Congressman, on Monday called for a focused national program to uncover the causes and treatments for brain disorders. The challenge today, he told SFARI, is to devote enough resources for research on disorders such as autism.

By Deborah Rudacille
19 November 2010 | 1 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Video: Why make neurons from children with autism?

Ricardo Dolmetsch is making neurons from induced pluripotent stem cells derived from people with Timothy syndrome, a rare single-gene disorder that causes heart arrhythmias and autism. On Wednesday morning at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego, Dolmetsch talked to SFARI about how this approach could help autism research.

By Virginia Hughes
19 November 2010 | 1 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Potential biomarker found in urine of children with autism

Young children with autism have high urine levels of a compound that is likely to be a product of gut bacteria, according to a poster presented Tuesday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
18 November 2010 | 3 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Immune protein alters development in young mice

Pregnant mice injected with the immune protein interleukin-6 give birth to pups that are less social than normal, an effect that results from the over-activation of two pathways critical in neurodevelopment, researchers reported Tuesday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

By Deborah Rudacille
18 November 2010 | 2 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Video: Mining genes from whole genomes

Rapid advances in DNA sequencing technology are enabling researchers to comb quickly — and ever more cheaply — through whole genomes. At the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego, Evan Eichler talked to SFARI about what the rapid accumulation of genetic sequence information means for autism research.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
18 November 2010 | 1 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Illustration of columns of text with eyes peeking out from behind the central column to look at a bright blue spot.

This paper changed my Life: Bill Newsome reflects on a quadrilogy of classic visual perception studies

The 1970s papers from Goldberg and Wurtz made ambitious mechanistic studies of higher brain functions seem feasible.

By Bill Newsome
21 February 2025 | 6 min read
Interconnected lines form a world map.

Science must step away from nationally managed infrastructure

Scientific data and independence are at risk. We need to work with community-driven services and university libraries to create new multi-country organizations that are resilient to political interference.

By Dan Goodman
20 February 2025 | 7 min read
Illustration of a woman holding a pencil over a map.

Familiar autism-linked genes emerge from first analysis of Latin American cohort

The findings, detailed in a January preprint, suggest autism’s fundamental biology is the same regardless of ancestry. But questions remain.

By Laura Dattaro
20 February 2025 | 5 min read