Gene that guides earliest social behaviors could be key to understanding autism

Credit: Jen Pilgreen/University of Utah Health

The findings, based on animal studies, could help researchers better understand at the molecular level why sociability is disrupted during the very earliest stages of life, says Randall T. Peterson, Ph.D., the corresponding author of the study and dean of the University of Utah College of Pharmacy.

« Gene that guides earliest social behaviors could be key to understanding autism

Credit: Tara Mleynek/University of Utah Health

To test if environmental factors could influence social behavior, researchers exposed zebrafish embryos to more than 1,100 known drugs. Normal zebrafish devoted much of their attention on other zebrafish. However, fish exposed to certain drugs experienced a change in the levels of some autism-linked genes, and lost interest in social interaction. These and other experiments suggest that certain environmental exposures may impair development of social behavior by affecting autism-linked genes.

« Gene that guides earliest social behaviors could be key to understanding autism

Expert Pitch

Expert Query

Expert Directory