New findings on the genetics of autism: WGAS points to 5p14.1

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Source: Nature AOP doi:10.1038/nature07999

Abstract:
Common genetic variants on 5p14.1 associate with autism spectrum disorders

Kai Wang et al.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) represent a group of childhood neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by deficits in verbal communication, impairment of social interaction, and restricted and repetitive patterns of interests and behaviour. To identify common genetic risk factors underlying ASDs, here we present the results of genome-wide association studies on a cohort of 780 families (3,101 subjects) with affected children, and a second cohort of 1,204 affected subjects and 6,491 control subjects, all of whom were of European ancestry. Six single nucleotide polymorphisms between cadherin 10 (CDH10) and cadherin 9 (CDH9)—two genes encoding neuronal cell-adhesion molecules—revealed strong association signals, with the most significant SNP being rs4307059 (P53.431028, odd ratio51.19). These signals were replicated in two independent cohorts, with combined P values ranging from 7.431028 to 2.1310210. Our results implicate neuronal cell-adhesion molecules in the pathogenesis of ASDs, and represent, to our knowledge, the first demonstration of genome-wide significant association of common variants with susceptibility to ASDs.

Personal technology: Phoning in data

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Far from being just an accessory, mobile phones are starting to be used to collect data in an increasing number of disciplines. Roberta Kwok looks into their potential.

Pre-publication: the effects of stress on decision-making

From Nature Precedings

hdl:10101/npre.2009.2923.1

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Stress impairs decision-making in rats

Lauren K. Jones¹, Taejib Yoon¹, & Jeansok J. Kim²

Correspondence: (Login to view email address)

1. Department of Psychology, University of Washington
2. Department of Psychology and Program in Neurobiology & Behavior, University of Washington

PDF (232.8 KB)

Document Type:

Manuscript

Date:

Received 05 March 2009 02:48 UTC; Posted 05 March 2009

Subjects:

Neuroscience

Tags:

• foraging behaviour
• decision-making
• stress
• rat
• Amygdala

Abstract:

Stress influences various types of memory, but its effects on other cognitive functions are relatively unknown. We investigated the effects of uncontrollable stress on subsequent decision-making in rats, using a computer vision-based water foraging choice task. Stress impaired the animals’ ability to bias their responses toward the larger reward when transitioning from equal to unequal quantities, and this stress effect was dependent on the amygdala.