6/30/2021

From the labs of Sandeep Robert Datta, Lisa Stowers and colleagues.

When we speak to each other, we communicate both through what we say and how we say it–for instance, whether something is whispered at an indoor volume, or shouted as a loud command. Using a combination of experimental tools and machine learning, Chen et al. discovered a specific population of cells in the brain that control how a mouse modulates its imperceptibly high-pitched vocalizations.

See original research article in Nature

1/21/2021

From the labs of Christopher A. Walsh, Peter J. Park, Po-Ru Loh and colleagues.

Boston Children’s Hospital news article about two recent studies of the genetics of autism, involving collaborators at Harvard Medical School, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and MIT. These studies suggest that ‘mosaic’ mutations --which occur post-conception and may affect only a fraction of an individual’s brain cells -- play a role in some cases of autism. 

See original research articles (Rodin et al. 2021) and (Sherman et al. 2021) in Nature Neuroscience.

12/10/2020

From the labs of Paola Arlotta, Feng Zhang, Aviv Regev and Joshua Levin.

Xin Jin, working with the teams of Paola Arlotta, Feng Zhang, Aviv Regev and Joshua Levin, shares the development of in vivo Perturb-Seq, a high-content and scalable method to study cohorts of risk genes implicated in brain disorders.

See original research article in Science.

11/13/2020

From the labs of David Ginty and colleagues.

Seungwon (Sebastian) Choi shares new research from the labs of David Ginty and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh. They applied new mouse genetic tools in conjunction with anatomical, physiological and behavioral approaches to better understand the functional organization of ascending touch, thermal and pain pathways.

From the labs of Kyriacos Markianos, Christopher A. Walsh, Timothy Yu, Michael E. Greenberg, and Eric Morrow.

Klaus Schmitz and Kyriacos Markianos share a powerful method for identifying important noncoding regions in the human genome—revealing the potential significance of gene regulation in cognitive and social function.

See original research article in Scientific Reports.

11/13/2020

From the lab of Sandeep Robert Datta.

Tatsuya Tsukahara shares new research on the use of Motion Sequencing (MoSeq) behavioral analysis technique, built on 3D animal postures and unsupervised machine learning, to organize large and complex behavioral datasets from mice treated with neuroactive and psychoactive drugs.

From the labs of Isaac Kohane and colleagues.

HMS News article on new research revealing a sub-type of autism associated with lipid abnormalities.

See original research article in Nature Medicine.

From the labs of Mark Fishman and colleagues.

Harvard Gazette article on new research revealing how genes related to psychiatric conditions can influence group behavior in zebrafish.

See original research article in iScience.

From the labs of Jacob Hooker and Christopher McDougle.

HMS News article on abnormally low levels of a key protein observed in brains of young men with autism spectrum disorder.

See original research article in Molecular Psychiatry.

Harvard Gazette Q+A with David Ginty and Lauren Orefice on a novel approach to treating tactile hypersensitivity in patients with autism-spectrum disorders.

From the labs of Jun Huh and Gloria Choi.

HMS News article on a new study suggesting a fever-induced immune molecule can influence social behavior in mice.

See original research article in Nature.

From the labs of David Ginty, Lauren Orefice, Maria Lehtinen and Guoping Feng.

HMS News article on new research pointing to a potential therapy for abnormal touch sensitivity in autism spectrum disorders.

See original research article in Cell.

From the labs of Staci Bilbo and colleagues.

HMS News article on a new study revealing the role of microglia in adolescent development differs in males and females.

See original research article from Nature Communications.

From the labs of Michael Greenberg and Chinfei Chen.

HMS News article on how a key protein helps the brain remodel itself in response to sensory experiences.

See original research article in Neuron.

From the labs of Isaac Kohane and colleagues.

Largest study to date reveals gender-specific risk of autism occurrence among siblings.

See original research article in JAMA Pediatrics.

From the labs of Christopher A. Walsh and many others, with the Autism Sequencing Consortium.

HMS News article on how post-conception mutations may play an important role in autism

See original research article in Nature Neuroscience.

From the labs of Nouchine Hadjikhani and colleagues.

HMS News article on research exploring why some individuals with autism might avoid eye contact.

See original research article in Nature.

From Frank Duffy, Aditi Shankardass, Gloria B. McAnulty, and Heidelise Als.

HMS News article on how EEGs could help doctors diagnose attention disorders.

See original research article in BMC Medicine.

From the lab of Matthew Anderson.

HMS News article on how a genetic “toggle switch” reveals regulation of sociability in autism model.

See original research article in Nature.

From the labs of Christopher A. Walsh and many others, with the Homozygosity Mapping Consortium for Autism.

HMS News article on how genomic regions that set humans apart from other primates carry many autism-linked mutations.

See original research article in Cell.