Holly Barker
Science journalist based in London, UK. Writing for @Spectrum, @TheScientistLLC and @DiscoverMag. She/her.
Articles
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1 week ago |
thetransmitter.org | Calli McMurray |Jill Adams |Holly Barker |Charles Choi
Twenty mouse models of autism can be sorted into two subtypes based on functional connectivity across the entire brain, a new preprint reports. The subtypes reflect changes in different molecular pathways and map on to nearly one-quarter of autistic people represented in a large dataset.
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2 weeks ago |
thetransmitter.org | Holly Barker
A potential new gene therapy for Dravet syndrome increases survival and prevents seizures, according to initial tests in mice, a new study shows. The approach delivers two viruses—each carrying a portion of the therapeutic gene—selectively to inhibitory interneurons, the cell type affected in the condition.
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3 weeks ago |
thetransmitter.org | Holly Barker |Jill Adams |Charles Choi
Genetic changes that damage PTEN, a gene strongly linked to autism, cause a buildup of brain fluid by prompting neural stem cells to proliferate and block a channel that drains the ventricles, a new mouse study finds. Loss of PTEN protein—a key regulator of cell division—also drives a surplus of inhibitory interneurons that impairs cortical function in mice. Blocking the signaling pathway underlying this proliferation decreases these brain changes in mice, the study shows.
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3 weeks ago |
thetransmitter.org | Daniel Graham |Holly Barker |Mark Humphries |Anthony M. Zador
To say that the brain is a communication device is almost cliché. The very name of this publication—The Transmitter—testifies to the ubiquity of the analogy. Yet most models of the brain take a sharply limited view of what communication in the brain really entails. Though couched in terms of networks and information, current approaches in systems neuroscience tend to view the brain from the point of view of the neuron.
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4 weeks ago |
thetransmitter.org | Giorgia Guglielmi |Jill Adams |Chloe Williams |Holly Barker
A newly developed statistical tool offers a way to control for unmeasured confounding factors in investigations of the downstream effects of autism-linked variants. Researchers describe the tool, called causarray, in a preprint posted on bioRxiv last month.
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RT @_TheTransmitter: Temperament is innate but hackable, animal studies suggest By Holly Barker https://t.co/8jqTr2Q5K0
The background fizz of neuronal activity—known as "noise"—fluctuates more in autism models and may cause problems with sensory perception, according to a study by @africk19's lab. Read my latest in @_TheTransmitter https://t.co/szKoYHNMjT
RT @laahrs: Phenazine Pride #PrideMonth #bacterial_pigments Agar art by @MarinaKSmiley https://t.co/0pUdYPRuTB