Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have gained new insight into the genetic and neuronal circuit mechanisms that may contribute to impaired sociability in some forms of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Led by Matthew P. Anderson, MD, PhD, Director of Neuropathology at BIDMC, the scientists determined how a gene linked to one common form of autism works in a specific population of brain cells to impair sociability. The research, published in the journal Nature, reveals the neurobiological control of sociability and could represent important first steps toward interventions for patients with autism.
Anderson and colleagues focused on the gene UBE3A, multiple copies of which causes a form of autism in humans (called isodicentric chromosome 15q).Conversely, the lack of this same gene in humans leads to a developmental disorder called Angelman’s syndrome, characterized by increased sociability. In previous work, Anderson’s team demonstrated that mice engineered with extra copies of the UBE3A gene show impaired sociability, as well as heightened repetitive self-grooming and reduced vocalizations with other mice.
Source: The genes and neural circuits behind autism’s impaired sociability – Medical News Today
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