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

Diabetes researcher from NOVA Medical School, Portugal, shows how mice used to study blood glucose regulation, memory changes and metabolic processes associated with diabetes are kept in laboratory.

Public engagement can help cultivate support for animal research

The European Animal Research Association's Patient Discovery Project connects researchers with people who have the conditions they study. The learning goes both ways.

By Kirk Leech
6 November 2026 | 7 min read

Brain registers spatial location outside hippocampus

A more complex picture of how an animal’s brain tracks its location is starting to emerge.

By Natalia Mesa
5 November 2026 | 1 min watch
Illustration of worm on top of a purple rock with neurons in the background.

The three-banded panther worm is rewriting the story of brain evolution

The animal has a brain structure all its own, according to a 2026 preprint. The finding hints that brains could have evolved centralization before regionalization.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
4 November 2026 | 7 min read