Spectrum Autism Research

First an educator and now an internationally recognized researcher, the Kenyan psychologist is changing autism science and services in sub-Saharan Africa.

Donald Hebb's theory—memorably summarized as “cells that fire together, wire together”—does not explain the shifting hippocampal connections in mice learning to navigate a virtual environment, according to a new study.

For decades, scientists have been teased by the strange but inaccessible cephalopod visual system. Now, thanks to a technological breakthrough from a lab in Oregon, data are finally coming straight from the octopus brain.

Neuroscientists have long ignored the variability in animals' behavioral responses in favor of studying differences across groups. But work on the brain differences that underlie that variability is beginning to pay off.

Regulatory T cells in the spinal meninges release endogenous opioids in a sex-specific manner, new work shows.

A competition that trains language models on relatively small datasets of words, closer in size to what a child hears up to age 13, seeks solutions to some of the major challenges of today's large language models.

The annual meeting brought autism researchers, advocates and clinicians to Seattle to discuss the latest research, including attempts to define subgroups, a potential new CHD8 macaque model and life expectancy gaps.

It's unclear if the cancellation at the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse extends to the fellowships awarded by other institutes within the National Institutes of Health.

Trainees from underrepresented backgrounds are losing pillars of support in the current funding climate. Grassroots mentorship organizations are stepping in to continue championing early-career researchers.

Valerio Mante and David Sussillo, along with their mentors Krishna Shenoy and Bill Newsome, revealed the complexity of neural population dynamics and the power of recurrent neural networks.

A lack of six new brain donors may stop the project from meeting its goal to pair molecular and cellular data with the functional organization of the cortex.

Whether looking back at his career highlights or forward to his latest projects, the psychiatrist is committed to supporting autistic people at every age.

The rapid eye movement (REM) phase preserves newly acquired memories, but deeper non-REM sleep helps to adapt and update them, according to “heroic” day-long electrode recordings in rats.

We need a new conceptual framework for understanding cognitive functions—particularly how globally distributed brain states are formed and maintained for hours.

Evolutionarily newer regions sport mitochondria with a higher capacity for energy production than older regions, according to the first detailed map of the organelles in a tissue slice, adding to mounting evidence that the brain features a metabolic gradient.

A game-changing cell culture method developed in Ben Barres' lab completely transformed the way we study astrocytes and helped me build a career studying their reactive substates.

Part of our job as educators is to give students a deeper understanding of the true diversity of sex and gender in the natural world.

But to fully grasp the tools' potential, we need to better understand how electric and magnetic fields interact with the brain.

Neuronal and non-neuronal cells throughout the brain also express genes—particularly those related to neuronal structure and immune function—differently in aged mice, according to a new atlas.

Although studying sex differences in the brain is complex, technically awkward and socioculturally loaded, it is absolutely essential.

The choroid plexus, the protective network of blood vessels and epithelial cells that line the brain's ventricles, recruits neutrophils and macrophages during inflammation, a new study shows.

As the history of this nascent discipline reveals, neuroscience has inspired advances in artificial intelligence, and AI has provided a testing ground for models in neuroscience, accelerating progress in both fields.

Leveraging start-up “dummy scans,” which are typically discarded in imaging analyses, can shorten an experiment's length and make data collection more efficient, a new study reveals.

New results suggest the disease progresses differently in women, but we need more basic science to unpack the mechanisms involved.

Fiser's work taught me how to think about grounding computational models in biologically plausible implementations.

The NIH-sponsored effort aims to help incentivize scientists to share data. But many barriers to the widespread adoption of useful data-sharing remain.

Science is built on trust. What happens when someone destroys it?

A detailed look at a “pregnant brain” highlights a need to investigate the neural alterations that occur during a transition experienced by nearly 140 million people worldwide each year.

The field is grappling with whether to modify the long-standing theory of reward prediction error—or abandon it entirely.

The current Autism CARES Act sunsets in late September.

The current Autism CARES Act sunsets in late September.

Nicole Rust describes her career-changing literary journey of joy, free will and the evolution of a field.

Nicole Rust describes her career-changing literary journey of joy, free will and the evolution of a field.

Few institutions have mechanisms for the type of long-term positions that would best benefit the science.

Few institutions have mechanisms for the type of long-term positions that would best benefit the science.

This statistical error is common in systems neuroscience. Fortunately, straightforward methods can help you prevent it.

This statistical error is common in systems neuroscience. Fortunately, straightforward methods can help you prevent it.

Brains made of neurons from two species raise new concerns.

Brains made of neurons from two species raise new concerns.

The insect-cognition researcher has done his work across continents, but Argentina is never far from his mind.

The insect-cognition researcher has done his work across continents, but Argentina is never far from his mind.

An omitted citation in a high-profile paper led us to examine our own practices and to help others adopt tools that promote citation diversity.

An omitted citation in a high-profile paper led us to examine our own practices and to help others adopt tools that promote citation diversity.

As the U.S. Congress begins to discuss federal science funding for 2025, any plans to compensate for this year's cuts to the neuroscience program face an uphill battle.

As the U.S. Congress begins to discuss federal science funding for 2025, any plans to compensate for this year's cuts to the neuroscience program face an uphill battle.

The French researcher's accomplishments working with chinstrap penguins in the Antarctic highlight the importance of recording sleep in the wild.

The French researcher's accomplishments working with chinstrap penguins in the Antarctic highlight the importance of recording sleep in the wild.

This mashup of neuroscience, artificial intelligence and even linguistics and philosophy of mind aims to crack the deep question of what “understanding” is, however un-brain-like its models may be.

This mashup of neuroscience, artificial intelligence and even linguistics and philosophy of mind aims to crack the deep question of what “understanding” is, however un-brain-like its models may be.

New research is resurfacing old ideas about where the protein forms the disease's hallmark plaques.

New research is resurfacing old ideas about where the protein forms the disease's hallmark plaques.