Two studies using brain organoids reveal cell-type-specific changes during the early stages of human forebrain neuronal development in autism
Two studies by different research groups — one led by Flora Vaccarino and the other by Juergen Knoblich — used brain organoids derived from pluripotent stem cells of people with autism and showed how transcriptional alterations affecting certain cell types during human brain development could contribute to the early emergence of ASD.
Excessive protein degradation is identified as a new cellular pathology and a potential target for therapeutic intervention in fragile X syndrome
In a mouse model of fragile X syndrome, Emily Osterweil and her colleagues show that excessive protein synthesis drives a pathological compensatory rise in protein degradation (by the ubiquitin proteasome system), which can be targeted to correct various phenotypes including audiogenic seizures.
A novel eye-tracking paradigm identifies an influence of perceptual load on social attention in autism
A study by Caroline Robertson and her colleagues found that reduced social attention was not a static omnipresent characteristic of autism; rather, it was magnified only under certain real-world conditions where sensory processing demands were high.