Valproic acid

Recent articles

Research image of a chimeroid.

Brain ‘chimeroids’ reveal person-to-person differences rooted in genetics

These fusions created from multiple donors’ organoids may help scale up comparative brain research.

By Charles Q. Choi
5 July 2024 | 4 min read
Illustration of neurons.

Chromatin remodeling tied to altered splicing in autism model

Exposing neurons to valproic acid, a well-known environmental risk factor for autism, disrupts their ability to generate different proteins from the same gene.

By Giorgia Guglielmi
7 February 2023 | 5 min read
A pregnant woman and a doctor, both masked, have a conversation in an examination room.

U.K. health authority investigates epilepsy drug’s link to autism

Prenatal exposure to topiramate increases a child’s autism odds, according to the study that prompted the inquiry, but experts caution that pregnant people with epilepsy have few other options for controlling seizures.

By Peter Hess
30 August 2022 | 4 min read
Rat neurons

Rat model of autism shows unusual brain growth at birth

The brains of rats exposed in utero to the seizure drug valproate show a significant increase in brain size around the time of birth.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
30 January 2019 | 5 min read
Siblings, a baby and a toddler, play together at home.

How pregnancy may shape a child’s autism

Autism is predominantly genetic in origin, but a growing list of prenatal exposures for mother and baby may sway the odds.

By Melinda Wenner Moyer
5 December 2018 | 17 min read

New restrictions on epilepsy drug may do more harm than good

A partial ban in Europe on the use of a drug called valproate during pregnancy could deny women effective treatment for serious conditions.

By Jessica Wright
21 June 2018 | 6 min read
Baby chick on white background.

Chick model of epilepsy-drug exposure may mimic signs of autism

Exposing fertilized chicken eggs to valproic acid, an epilepsy drug, yields chicks with apparent social deficits.

By Brianna Abbott
1 June 2018 | 2 min read

New journal; organoid ethics; acetaminophen association and more

A journal covering autism in adulthood makes its debut, researchers call for an ethical framework for human organoid studies, and the association between acetaminophen and autism risk comes under scrutiny.

By Emily Willingham
27 April 2018 | 5 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
white lab rats piled together

Rodent ratings reveal periods of vulnerability to harmful exposures

Nongenetic rodent models most relevant to autism tend to be those exposed to environmental agents in the womb or shortly after birth.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
13 November 2017 | 2 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Alison Barth discovers how different neuron types contribute to cortical function

Barth uses learning tasks in mice as a tool to drive synaptic plasticity in the sensory cortex, hoping to unlock more general principles of how the cortex works.

By Paul Middlebrooks
5 August 2026 | 1 min read
Mouse muscle cells.

Virus-like particles deliver gene-editing tools into Duchenne mouse model

The approach uses a protein found in fruit flies to ferry the gene editor Cas9 into muscle cells.

By Brianna Abbott
5 August 2026 | 5 min read

Textbook model of hippocampus’s role in memory may need updating

The CA3 region, long thought to have just one circuit, has two, sporting different wiring and functions, a new preprint suggests.

By Alissa de Chassey
4 August 2026 | 5 min read