IMFAR 2011

Recent articles

Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Despite reasoning skills, Asperger boys struggle to focus

Teenage boys with Asperger syndrome with higher-than-average scores on tests of abstract reasoning fare worse than controls on short-term memory and ability to filter out distractions.

By Deborah Rudacille
16 May 2011 | 3 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Language gene mouse model could help test autism drugs

Mice lacking CNTNAP2, a gene linked to autism and language impairment, show behaviors and brain abnormalities that reflect those seen in people with disorder, according to new findings presented Thursday at the International Meeting for Autism Research in San Diego.

By Deborah Rudacille
16 May 2011 | 4 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Brain overgrowth may drive early symptoms of autism

Long bundles of neurons that connect key regions in the brain develop abnormally in the first year of life in children with autism, according to new findings presented Friday at the International Meeting for Autism Research in San Diego.

By Deborah Rudacille
16 May 2011 | 5 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Budget cuts hit autism research

Cuts to the National Institutes of Health budget affect both investigators who have existing grants — which will receive one percent less than in 2010 — and those applying for funding.

By Deborah Rudacille
13 May 2011 | 2 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Illustration of rolling dice.

Grant review needs reform. How about we add an element of chance?

A process that uses a lottery system saves time, reduces strategic resubmission and accepts that, above a quality threshold, luck has always played a part in science funding.

By Adrien Peyrache
25 September 2026 | 6 min read
Research diagram of gene expression.

Fly neurons carry molecular signatures of their origins

The pattern of transcription factors a Drosophila neuron expresses offers clues to its lineage and birth order—and ultimately how neural circuits emerge.

By Alissa de Chassey
25 September 2026 | 5 min read
Cortical organoids from the anterior (green) or posterior (red) cortex.

Polarized cortical organoids mimic the brain’s regional organization

The organoids show region-specific gene-expression changes that match those observed during fetal development.

By Holly Barker
24 September 2026 | 4 min read