Analyzing automation: Two studies test methods that track rodents’ social interactions, children’s speech characteristics

JUST DANCE: A new technique for automating the analysis of social behaviors in freely moving rodents uses multiple cameras and machine learning. The method, called DANNCE, enables high-resolution 3D tracking of postural dynamics and social touch in several rat and mouse strains. Observed behavior in rats carrying autism-linked gene variants led the researchers to write, “We found … genotype-specific differences in social variability across individuals, emphasizing the heterogeneous presentation of these models and the importance of deep phenotyping.” Cell

See also: “How artificial intelligence is shaking up animal behavior studies in autism”

SPEECH SKILLS: Analyzing distinctive speech patterns from audio recordings, using an automated method called LENA, did not detect any change in communication skills in autistic children underdoing pivotal response treatment, according to a recent study. By contrast, other measures used in the clinical trial identified improvements with the early intervention. And the automated data did not correlate with conventional measures of expressive speech. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

See also:  “Scientists sound warning about use of autism speech detector”

“AI tool estimates social ability by analyzing speech”

More autism research we spotted:

• “Scheduled feeding improves behavioral outcomes and reduces inflammation in a mouse model of fragile X syndrome” eLife
• “Autism- and intellectual disability-associated MYT1L mutation alters human cortical interneuron differentiation, maturation, and physiology” Stem Cell Reports
• “Hippocampal place cell sequences are impaired in a rat model of fragile X syndrome” Journal of Neuroscience