Neuroscience 2013, the world’s largest research conference on brain development and function, convened in San Diego today, with more than 30,000 attendees. As the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN), this year’s conference will include more than 200 presentations on autism-related research.
These presentations will feature the early findings of ongoing research projects before the studies appear in peer-reviewed journals. As such Neuroscience 2013 plays a special role in fostering discussion of emerging discoveries and new directions in research. It is also a vitally important opportunity for fruitful discussions between scientists with different areas of expertise.
"When it comes to understanding the mysteries of the brain, SfN is the most important research conference in the world today," says Autism Speaks Chief Science Officer Rob Ring. "Breakthroughs being reported at SfN this week offer a preview to the innovations in brain health of tomorrow."
For our daily coverage of autism news from Neuroscience 2013, click here.
The table below lists Autism Speaks-funded senior scientists and research fellows presenting early findings from their Autism Speaks research projects. Follow the hyperlinks to read the scientific abstracts of their SfN presentations and descriptions of their related Autism Speaks research grants.
You can also join a Twitter Q&A with autism scientists attending the conference on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 12 pm Pacific/3 pm Eastern. Featured experts will include Autism Speaks Senior Director of Discovery Neuroscience Dan Smith and Autism Speaks Senior Director for Environmental and Clinical Sciences Alycia Halladay. To participate, follow the hashtag #SFNautism.
Researchers & Institutions | Neuroscience 2013 presentations | Autism Speaks research grant |
*J. L. SILVERMAN1, P. T. GASTRELL2, M. C. PRIDE1, J. E. HAYES1, M. SOLOMON1, J. N. CRAWLEY1,2; 1UC Davis Sch. of Med., Sacramento, CA; 2Lab. of Behavioral Neurosci., Natl. Inst. of Mental Hlth., Bethesda, MD | Touchscreen learning of transitive inference in B6 mice and the BTBR mouse model of autism Human Biomarkers of Autism | |
*M. YANG1, D. LOUREIRO2, D. KALIKHMAN2, J. N. CRAWLEY1,2; 1MIND Inst. and Dept. of Psychiatry. UC Davis, Sacramento, CA; 2Lab. of Behavioral Neurosci., Natl. Inst. of Mental Hlth. Intramural Res. Program, Bethesda, MD | Human Biomarkers of Autism | |
*M. NEBEL1,2, A. ELOYAN3, C. NETTLES2, K. SWEENEY2, A. CHOE1, A. BARBER1,2, B. CAFFO3, J. PEKAR1,2, S. MOSTOFSKY1,2; 1Johns Hopkins Sch. of Med., Baltimore, MD;2Kennedy Krieger Inst., Baltimore, MD; 3Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Sch. of Publ. Hlth., Baltimore, MD | Visuomotor connectivity relates to symptom severity in children with autism 049.Human Biomarkers of Autism | Understanding the Brain Basis of Impaired Imitation Learning in Autism |
*K. A. MCEVOY1,3, S. JESTE2,3; 1Ctr. for Autism Res. & Treatment, UCLA, LOS ANGELES, CA; 2UCLA, Los Angeles, CA; 3Ctr. for Autism Res. & Treatment, University of California, Los Angeles, CA | 049.Human Biomarkers of Autism | Electrophysiologic Biomarkers of Language Function in Autism Spectrum Disorders |
*J. L. STEIN1, J. S. GRIMLEY2, V. MENON2, D. H. GESCHWIND1, A. KAYKAS2; 1Neurol., UCLA, Los Angeles, CA; 2Allen Inst. for Brain Sci., Seattle, WA | TALENSeek: A validated program for identifying genomic engineering sites 101.Bioinformatics | Genetic models of autism in human neural progenitor cells: a platform for therapeutic discovery |
*Z. YAN, W.-L. WU, E. Y. HSIAO, P. H. PATTERSON; Div. of Biol., Caltech, Pasadena, CA | Maternal infection perturbs fetal brain development through IL-6 signaling 244.Developmental Disorders Associated with Prenatal Events | How Does IL-6 Mediate the Development of Autism-Related Behaviors? and Role of Cytokines in Mediating the Effects of Maternal Immune Activation on the Fetal Brain |
*H. BELINSON1, J. NAKATANI1, R. Y. BIRNBAUM2, M. BERSHTEYN1, B. BABINEAU1, R. J. MCEVILLY3, J. LONG1, K. WILLERT4, N. AHITUV2, M. G. ROSENFELD3, A. WYNSHAW-BORIS1,5; 1Pediatrics, 2Dept. of Bioengineering and Therapeut. Sci., Inst. For Human Genetics, UCSF, San Francisco, CA; 3Dept. and Sch. of Med., Howard Hughes Med. Institute, UCSD, San Diego, CA; 4Deparment of Cell and Mol. Biol., Inst. for Regenerative Medicine, UCSD, San Diego, CA; 5Dept. of Genet. and Genome Sci., Case Western Reserve Univ. Sch. of Med., Cleveland, OH | β-catenin transcriptionally regulates Brn2 and control early brain overgrowth 244.Developmental Disorders Associated with Prenatal Events | Pathologic and Genetic Characterization of Novel Brain Cortical Patches in Young Autistic Brains |
*S. H. MOSTOFSKY1,3, M. NEBEL1, L. JACOBSON1, J. WEXLER4, B. S. CAFFO5, J. J. PEKAR2,3, A. D. BARBER2,3; 1Neurology/Developmental Cognitive Neurol., 2Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins Univ. Sch. o, Baltimore, MD; 3Johns Hopkins Sch. of Med., Baltimore, MD; 4Kennedy Krieger Inst., Baltimore, MD; 5Johns Hopkins Sch. of Publ. Hlth., Baltimore, MD | Altered connectivity in default mode and cingulo-opercular networks in children with ADHD 246.Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Child Development | Understanding the Brain Basis of Impaired Imitation Learning in Autism |
*L. DE LA TORRE-UBIETA, J. L. STEIN, N. N. PARIKSHAK, D. LU, J. K. LOWE, E. WEXLER, D. H. GESCHWIND; UCLA, Los Angeles, CA | 500.Neural Differentiation and Disease Modeling Using Stem Cells or Reprogramming | Genetic models of autism in human neural progenitor cells: a platform for therapeutic discovery |
*T. C. JARAMILLO, H. E. SPEED, J. REIMERS, Z. XUAN, S. LIU, C. M. POWELL; Neurol. & Neurotherapeutics, UT Southwestern Med. Ctr., Dallas, TX | Altered synaptic plasticity and abnormal behaviors in Shank3 exon 4-9 mutant mouse model of autism 531.Neural Mechanisms Associated with Autistic Behaviors in Animals | Preclinical therapeutic target validation of glutamate receptors in Shank3 models of autism, Animal Models of Autism: Pathogenesis and Treatment |
*J. M. YAU1, M. B. NEBEL3, J. HUA2, J. E. DESMOND1; 1Neurol., Johns Hopkins Univ., BALTIMORE, MD; 2Russell H. Morgan Dept. of Radiology and Radiological Sci., Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD; 3Kennedy Krieger Inst., Baltimore, MD | Direct comparison of network connectivity revealed by resting-state fMRI and concurrent TMS-fMRI 550.Mutisensory: Cross-Modal Processing in Humans | Understanding the Brain Basis of Impaired Imitation Learning in Autism |
*J. R. COHEN1, A. D. BARBER2, M. B. NEBEL2, M. D'ESPOSITO1, S. H. MOSTOFSKY2; 1Helen Wills Neurosci. Inst., UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA; 2Kennedy Krieger Inst., Baltimore, MD | Global brain organization is disrupted in children with ADHD 573.Working Memory and Executive Function III | Understanding the Brain Basis of Impaired Imitation Learning in Autism |
*M. ESTES, A. MCALLISTER; UC Davis, Davis, CA | 596.Synapse Formation: Transsynaptic Mechanisms | Gene-environment interactions regulating synapse density and function in ASD |
*M. KOUSER1, H. E. SPEED1, J. M. REIMERS1, C. M. DEWEY1, A. J. WIDMAN1, S. LIU1, T. C. JARAMILLO1, P. F. WORLEY2, C. M. POWELL1; 1Neurol. and Neurotherapeutics, UTSouthwestern, Dallas, TX; 2Neurosci., John Hopkins Univ. Sch. of Med., Baltimore, MD | Behavioral characterization of Shank3 homer binding domain deletion model of autism 692.Genetic Correlates of Autism | Temporally Controlled Genetic Rescue of Shank3 Autism Model, Animal Models of Autism: Pathogenesis and Treatment and Shank3 mutant characterization in vivo.
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*W.-L. WU, P. H. PATTERSON; Div. of Biol., Caltech, Pasadena, CA | 718.Genetic Correlates of Autism | The Mechanism of the Maternal Infection Risk Factor for Autism and Role of Cytokines in Mediating the Effects of Maternal Immune Activation on the Fetal Brain |
*N. GUPTA1, M. KOUSER1, P. WORLEY2, C. POWELL1; 1Univ. of Texas At Southwestern, Dallas, TX; 2Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD | Characterization of neuronal morphology in a shank3 exon 21 deletion mouse model of autism 718.Genetic Correlates of Autism | Temporally Controlled Genetic Rescue of Shank3 Autism Model, Animal Models of Autism: Pathogenesis and Treatment, and Shank3 mutant characterization in vivo.
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*F. ESPINOSA, J. M. REIMERS, C. F. OCHOA, C. M. DEWEY, C. M. POWELL; Neurol. and Neurotherapeutics, U.T. Southwestern Med. Ctr., Dallas, TX | 719.Genetic Models of Autism in Animals | Animal Models of Autism: Pathogenesis and Treatment, The Role of Neuroligins in Cognitive Function: Implications for Autism |
*B. A. BABINEAU1, J. NAKATANI1,2, H. BELINSON1, A. WYNSHAW-BORIS1,3; 1Dept. of Pediatrics and Inst. of Human Genet., Univ. of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA; 2Biomed. Resonance Sci. Ctr., Shiga Univ. of Med. Sci., Seta-Tsukinowa, Otsu, Shiga, Japan; 3Dept. of Genet. and Genome Sci., Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH | Sociability and amygdala-dependent memory deficits in Dishevelled mutant mice 719.Genetic Models of Autism in Animals | Pathologic and Genetic Characterization of Novel Brain Cortical Patches in Young Autistic Brains |
*A. ABBOTT1,2, C. L. KEOWN1,2, A. NAIR1,2,3, G. KOOR1,2, S. KIRTLAND1,4, D. GOBLE1,4, R.-A. MÃœLLER1,2; 1San Diego State Univ., San Diego, CA; 2Brain Develop. Imaging Lab., San Diego, CA; 3UCSD, La Jolla, CA; 4Biomechanics Lab., San Diego, CA | Impaired functional connectivity in networks underlying balance in Autism Spectrum Disorder 809.Brain Imaging and Tissue Markers in Autism | Thalamocortical Connectivity in Children and Adolescents with ASD-A Combined fcMRI and DTI approach |
*A. T. KNOLL1, S. CHOI1, B. REEB-SUTHERLAND2, N. A. FOX3, P. LEVITT1; 1Cell and Neurobio., USC, Los Angeles, CA; 2Psychology, Florida Intl. Univ., Miami, FL;3Human Develop. and Quantitative Methodology, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD | Heterogeneity in social behavior and relation to associative learning in BXD recombinant inbred mice 866.Neural Mechanisms for Social Behavior across Evolutionary Phylogeny | Factors influencing early associative learning as a precursor to social behavior heterogeneity |