2010

Imaging technique reveals brain's diversity
A new technique called array tomography allows researchers to visualize individual synapses, the complex junctions between neurons, in the mouse brain. Researchers have also identified several markers that highlight the incredible diversity of synapse types.
New technique maps mutation-rich regions
Researchers have mapped unique identifiers in the regions around human genes that are at risk for duplication or deletion, allowing precise sequencing of nearly 1,000 genes for the first time, according to a paper published today in Science.
Super-cool synapses
A chilling new technique shows the intricate and coordinated activity of previously mysterious pieces of the synapse, the all-important junction between neurons that allows cells to talk to each other.
Imaging interactions
A clever new method records brain activity during live, back-and-forth social interactions and could help study joint attention — the act of looking at an object the same time someone else does.
Mapping the mind
Chinese researchers have developed a new imaging system, called micro-optical sectioning tomography or MOST, to generate a three-dimensional image of neurons in a whole mouse brain.
Pattern recognition
MIT researchers are testing a new device that analyzes rocking and other repetitive movements in people with autism.
Creatures great and small
Among animal models of autism, the mouse reigns supreme. But could much simpler species — flies, bees, worms, fish — also teach us about the disorder?
Storing structure
The National Institutes of Health on 30 September launched a public database to catalog a particularly important type of genomic data: so-called 'structural variations' — large deletions, duplications and rearrangements of DNA.