BTBR mice

Recent articles

Artificial intelligence system categorizes interactions between mice

New software can automatically identify and quantify mouse social behavior from videos, saving researchers time.

By Lauren Schenkman
17 December 2021 | 4 min read

New mouse brain atlas traces connections in fine detail

A new wiring diagram of the mouse brain could help autism researchers better study how brain connections vary in mice with different genetic backgrounds.

By Laura Dattaro
13 January 2021 | 2 min read
illustration of mouse on sale in a city

‘Outmoded’ mouse models of autism may still yield new advances

Many researchers question the value of three early mouse models of autism, but the models have their staunch supporters.

By Nicholette Zeliadt
21 March 2018 | 6 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Mouse studies support second chance for fragile X drug

Two new studies give a boost to arbaclofen, which failed to meet expectations in clinical trials for autism and fragile X syndrome.

By Jessica Wright
28 April 2015 | 3 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Optimizing behavioral assays for mouse models of autism

As the number of autism rodent models climbs, it is a good time for the field to step back and consider the best practices for assessing autism-like symptoms in rodents, says Jacqueline Crawley.

By Jacqueline Crawley
23 September 2014 | 11 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Signaling imbalance skews sensory responses in autism mice

Mice modeling autism have trouble integrating different kinds of sensory information such as sight, sound and touch. A study published 31 July in Neuron reports that an imbalance between signals that calm neurons and those that excite them leads to these sensory problems.

By Maris Fessenden
11 August 2014 | 5 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Low-dose sedative eases autism symptoms in mice

The equivalent of one-tenth of a single pill of the anxiety drug clonazepam alleviates many autism-like behaviors in a mouse model of the disorder, according to a study published 19 March in Neuron.

By Jessica Wright
3 April 2014 | 5 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Automated tool records behavior of autism mouse models

A new tracking system automatically logs and scores mouse behavior as well as a human observer does, according to a paper published 31 December 2013 in Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

By Veronique Greenwood
5 February 2014 | 3 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Cognition and behavior: Drug ups sociability in autism mice

Rapamycin, a drug given to suppress immune rejection after transplants, improves social behavior in mice with features of autism, reports a study published in the January issue of Brain Research Bulletin.

By Laura Geggel
31 January 2014 | 2 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Compendium of mouse brains highlights autism’s diversity

By mapping the brains of not 1 but 27 mouse models of autism, researchers are making sense of the widely divergent structural changes seen in autism brains, they reported Wednesday at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

By Jessica Wright
14 November 2013 | 4 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

ABCD Study omits gender-identity data from latest release

The removal counteracts the goals of the longitudinal study by “pretending that some aspects of adolescent brain development don’t exist,” says sex differences researcher Nicola Grissom.

By Calli McMurray
11 July 2025 | 4 min read
Leafcutter ants carrying leaves.

Neuropeptides reprogram social roles in leafcutter ants

The mechanisms that control the labor roles of ants may also be conserved in naked mole rats, a new study shows.

By Shaena Montanari
11 July 2025 | 7 min listen
Illustration of overlapping, multi-colored human head silhouettes.

Perspectives from the field: Opinions in autism research

This collection of Spectrum articles from the past 12 months highlights expert perspectives on autism’s heritability and its link to biological sex, the value of transdiagnostic frameworks, and the field’s future, among other topics.

By Daisy Yuhas
10 July 2025 | 3 min read