Hear, hear: A comparison of brain activity in three genetic models of autism demonstrated different mechanisms that lead to changes in auditory processing, according to a new study in zebrafish. The genetic lines examined—each carrying variants of FMR1, MECP2 or CNTNAP2—displayed altered sensory behaviors, such as hyper-responsiveness and reduced habituation. As for brain circuitry, the FMR1 model showed increased activity in the auditory regions and an imbalance in excitatory versus inhibitory activity, whereas the other models showed differences in network activity over time. All three models showed altered brain activity in sensory integration and sensorimotor gating regions. The authors conclude that their comparison “suggests that diverse genetic factors may contribute to similar behavioral effects through a range of circuit- and network-scale mechanisms.”

Autism research spotted this week:

• “Clinical, cellular, and genomic consequences of a population-enriched SETD1A missense variant” Research Square
• “The linker histone H1.4 condenses chromatin in maturing postmitotic neurons” bioRxiv
• “Impaired astrocyte-to-neuron cholesterol trafficking drives synaptic dysfunction in Rett syndrome” bioRxiv