By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 13, 2012

In a new mouse study, University of California, Davis, researchers have found that a defective gene is responsible for brain changes that lead to the disrupted social behavior that accompanies autism.

Investigators believe the discovery could lead to the development of medications to treat the condition.

Prior research had determined that the gene is defective in children with autism, but its effect on neurons in the brain was not known.

The new studies in mice show that abnormal action of just this one gene disrupted energy use in neurons. The harmful changes were coupled with antisocial and prolonged repetitive behavior traits found in autism.

The research is published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE.

A number of genes and environmental factors have been shown to be involved in autism, but this study points to a mechanism how one gene defect may trigger this type of neurological behavior, said study senior author Cecilia Giulivi, Ph.D.

Once you understand the mechanism, that opens the way for developing drugs to treat the condition, she said.

The defective gene appears to disrupt neurons use of energy, Giulivi said, the critical process that relies on the cells molecular energy factories called mitochondria.

In the research, a gene called pten was modififed in the mice so that neurons lacked the normal amount of ptens protein. The scientists detected malfunctioning mitochondria in the mice as early as 4 to 6 weeks after birth.

Read this article:
Gene Related to Autism Behavior ID’d in Mice Study

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