A team of researchers, including researchers at Yale University, recently found which regions of the brain and cell types are subject to gene mutations that lead to autism. The team published their results in the journal Cell.
“Although other genes and neural circuits that contribute to autism spectrum still remain to be found, the new findings suggest new targeted treatments for autism may be possible,” said Nenad Sestan, professor of neurobiology, investigator for the Kavli Institute for Neuroscience at Yale, and co-senior author of the paper, told Yale News.
The team found that one group of genes affected the brain three to five months after conception. The genes change the growth of a particular type of neuron cell. Another group of genes affects the mid-frontal cortex region of the brain.
The researchers don’t yet know how the changes result in autism and the disorder’s symptoms.
