The MacArthur Foundation honors neuroscientist Beth Stevens, and researchers pin down factors that influence the placebo effect in autism trials.

Beth Stevens is unmasking new roles for microglia, the mysterious brain cells that seem to shape brain circuits.

Researchers from four labs were unable to reproduce the findings from a high-profile 2012 study in which bone marrow transplants dramatically extended the lives of mice with features of Rett syndrome. Their sobering findings were published yesterday in Nature.

The mutation that causes Rett syndrome may spark uncontrolled inflammation throughout the body and brain, suggests a study published last week. The findings may explain the syndrome’s wide range of symptoms, from seizures to gut problems.

An analysis of genes expressed in the postmortem brains of people with autism has identified three molecular pathways linked to the disorder. The findings, published 10 December in Nature Communications, add to mounting evidence that the myriad causes of autism converge on common biological processes.

Loss of MeCP2, the Rett syndrome gene, depletes immune cells throughout the bodies of mice, researchers reported yesterday at the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Some cases of autism may result from glitches in immune cells in the blood: This provocative idea stems from a series of unpublished mouse studies presented yesterday at the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Brains from people with autism have more support cells called glia and fewer neurons than do control brains, suggests a study published 10 January in Molecular Autism.

By matching the genes expressed in particular cell types with those linked to a disorder, researchers may be able to identify the cell types implicated in the disorder, they report in a study published 22 January in the Journal of Neuroscience. They use this method to link interneurons and immune cells to autism.